i 



THE 

LADIES' COMPANION 



to the; 

FLOWER GARDEN. 

BEING 

AN ALPHABETICAL ARRANGEMENT 

OF 

ALL THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS USUALLY GROWN IN 
GARDENS AND SHRUBBERIES; 

WITH FULL DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR CULTURE. 

J, //. 

BY MRS. LOUDON. 
A* 



LONDON : 
WILLIAM SMITH, 113, FLEET-STREET. 

MBCCCXLI. 



■0 



V 



LONDON : 

BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIAKS. 



t 



MRS. LAWRENCE, 

OF 

BALING PARK, MIDDLESEX, 
AS 

A WARM PATRON OF FLORICULTURE, 

AN EXCELLENT BOTANIST, AND, ABOVE ALL, AS ONE OF THE FIRST 
LADY-GARDENERS OF THE PRESENT DAY, 

Cflts Morft 

IS DEDICATED, BY HER SINCERE FRIEND, 



THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



It is a common subject of complaint among amateur 
florists, that the directions for the culture of flowers given in 
works on Gardening are scattered through so many different 
volumes, and mixed with so many other matters, as to be of 
comparatively little use to the possessors of small gardens. 
Having felt this inconvenience myself, it occurred to me that 
a Dictionary of the English and botanic names of the most 
popular flowers, with directions for their culture, would be 
useful ; and the result is the present volume. 

J. W. L. 



Bayswatcr, 1841. 



A COMPANION 

TO THE 

LADIES' FLOWER-GARDEN. 



A. 



Abu^tilon. — Malvacea. — The 
herbaceous plants belonging to this 
genus are scarcely worth cultivating, 
but there is a very beautiful green- 
house plant called Abutilon stria- 
tum, that deserves a place in every 
collection. This plant is a native of 
Brazil ; and it is a half-shrubby 
climber, with vine-like leaves, and 
bell -shaped flowers of a bright yellow, 
strongly veined with scarlet, which 
hang down on long slender stalks. 
The plant should be grown in a pot, 
a quarter filled with broken potsherds, 
to ensure perfect drainage, in a light 
sandy loam ; and it should be trained 
to a slight frame : or it may be planted 
in the open air, and trained against a 
wall or trellis, as it is nearly hardy, 
and only requires protection from frost. 

Aca^cia. — Leguminbsce. — Most per- 
sons understand by the word Acacia, 
tall trees with pea-flowers, which are 
natives of North America, and quite 
hardy in the open air in England. 
These trees, however, are the Locust 
trees, or false Acacias, and belong to 
the genus Robinia. The true Aca- 
cias are what are called Wattle trees 
in Australia, with flowers like balls 
of golden down ; and as they x*equire 
protection from the frost in England, 



they are generally treated in this 
country as greenhouse shrubs. Above 
three hundred species have been intro- 
duced ; but only about thirty are in 
cultivation in British nurseries, and 
nearly all these have been figured in 
the botanical periodicals. By far the 
greater part of the Acacias grown in 
England are natives of New Holland, 
and most of these are nearly hardy ; 
but some are from the East Indies 
and Arabia, and most of these require 
a stove. Nearly all the kinds are 
evergreen ; and the Australian species 
are very valuable in greenhouses, be- 
cause they are in flower during winter. 
In the open ground they flower in 
March, April, May, and June. The 
following kinds are those most com- 
mon of the Australian Acacias in 
British nurseries : — A. armata, a 
compact growing plant, with simple 
leaves and abundance of flowers, but 
very apt to be infested with insects ; 
A. alata, a curious species with leaf- 
like stems; A. declpiens, with small 
angular leaves ; A . diffusa, a dwarf 
plant with small flowers ; A. hybrida, 
very fragrant ; A. longifblia, with 
very long leaves, and the flowers not 
in balls, but in long close spikes ; A. 
pubescens, a very elegant species 

B 



ACACIA. 



2 



ACANTHUS. 



with drooping branches, pinnate leaves, 
and the ball-like flowers disposed in 
racemes ; A. nigricans, with black- 
ish green foliage ; A. verticillata, 
with the leaves like spines, and dis- 
posed in whorls; A. lophdnlha, with 
pinnate leaves, and long spike-like 
whitish flowers; A. dealbata Cun- 
ningham, the A. affinis of some, re- 
markable for the delicacy of its 
foliage, and the whitish bloom which 
covers its trunk and branches ; and 
A. melonoxylon, the Black wood, or 
Black Wattle of the Australians, the 
dilated petioles or phvllodia of which 
look like leaves, with the real leaves, 
which are pinnate, attached to their 
extremities. Of the other kinds of 
Acacia, the hardiest are A. acantho- 
cdrpa, a native of Mexico, with pale 
pink flowers and spiny pods ; and A. 
Julibrissin, the silk tree, a native of 
Persia, and one of the most beautiful 
small trees that can be imagined : the 
flowers are like long silk tassels, and 
they vary from a pale pink, or rose 
colour, to a delicate lilac ; but they 
seldom attain perfection in the open 
air in England for want of heat in our 
summers, though they are extremely 
beautiful in Italy. Of the stove 
species, the handsomest are A. spe- 
cibsa, A. grandiflbra, A. Hous- 
tbni, and A. scdndens ; and they 
should all be kept in the coolest and 
most airy part of the stove. A. vera, 
the Gum Arabic tree, A. Catechu, 
from the unripe pods of which is made 
the substance called terra japonica, and 
A. Senegal, the Gum Senegal tree, 
are only interesting for their products. 

All the kiuds of Acacia require to 
be grown in sandy loam, or in a mix- 
ture of sand, or peat, and leaf mould, 
well drained. They are generally 
propagated by imported seeds, (though 
some of the species have ripened seed 
in this country,) and the seeds are 
sometimes two, or even three, years in 
the ground before they come up. 



To hasten their vegetation, they may 
be steeped in very hot water, and left 
in the water for several days, or in 
oxalic acid and water, and sometimes 
even boiled ; and when prepared by 
any of these modes, they will gene- 
rally come up in about a week or a 
fortnight. Acacias may also be pro- 
pagated by cuttings ; but as these are 
rather difficult to strike, they should 
be put into a pot filled with pure 
white sand, covered closely with a 
bell-glass, and then plunged into a 
hotbed. The tenderer species may 
also be grafted on A. dealbata, A. 
lophdntha, and A. melonoxylon, 
which appear to be the hardiest kinds. 
All these three species will generally 
spring up again from the root, when 
killed down to the ground by frost ; 
and whenever this is the case, it indi- 
cates that the plants may be propa- 
gated by cuttings of the roots, which 
is frequently done with these Acacias. 
All the roots of the Australian species 
smell like garlic, and this smell is 
very perceptible on entering a room 
where any of these plants are kept, if 
it has been shut up for a few days. 
For this reason, when Acacias are 
kept in a greenhouse adjoining the 
living rooms of a house, care should 
be taken to give the bouse abundance 
of ventilation ; and this is also very 
conducive to the health of the plants. 

Aca x cia. — See Robinia, Mimosa, 
and Inga. 

Aca'nthus — AcanthacecB. — Per- 
ennial plants, natives of the warm 
parts of Europe, two of which, A. 
mollis and A. spinbsus, deserve a 
place in every collection from their 
stately appearance, and from the 
legend of their leaves having given 
the first idea of the capital of the 
Corinthian order of architecture. All 
the kinds of Acanthus require a sandy 
soil, and a good deal of room ; and 
they are all readily increased by divi- 
sion of the rootj and by seeds. The 



ACHILLEA. 



3 



ACONITUM. 



situations most suitable for a large 
plant of Acanthus are near a stone 
seat on a lawn, at the foot of a block 
of stone introduced among rock- 
work, or among clrssical ruins, such as 
those at Virginia Water, Windsor, &c. 
In a garden at Hammersmith, a fine 
effect was produced, some years since, 
byanoble plant of Acanthus spinosus 
springing from the base of a shattered 
pedestal, and half concealing the 
broken statue that had fallen from it. 

Acarus. — A genus of small insects 
or mites. A'carus teldrius, the 
red spider, is one of the most trouble- 
some of all insects to gardeners, par- 
ticularly in the bark-stove, as it breeds 
in the bark. When first hatched 
this little creature is scarcely percep- 
tible, as its colour is of a yellowish 
green, and it spins its web on the 
under side of the leaves. As it gets 
older, it becomes of a brownish red. 
It has eight legs, and belongs to the 
spider family ; but it is provided with 
a kind of proboscis or rostrum, with 
which it sucks the juices of the leaves 
it lives upon, and soon withers them; 
thus spoiling both fruit and flowers, 
as neither can attain perfection unless 
the sap that nourishes them has been 
properly elaborated in the leaves. It 
is very difficult to destroy this insect, 
as tobacco-smoke and the other 
remedies generally used against it, 
appear to have very little effect. 
Sprinkling with cold water will some- 
times destroy it ; but as the insect is 
generally produced by keeping the 
plants too hot, and not allowing them 
sufficient air, the best remedy appears 
to be to set all the hothouse plants 
in the open ground during the months 
of July and August, plunging the 
pots in a bed of dung, decayed leaves, 
or tan ; and well ventilating and clean- 
ing the houses while they are empty. 

Achillea. — Composites. — Mil- 
foil. — The plants belonging to this 
genus are known under the English 



name of Milfoil. Most of them have 
no great beauty, but they are of very 
vigorous growth, and will grow in any 
soil or situation, bearing either smoke 
or cold without any visible change. 
They are also suitable plants for bal- 
conies or boxes, as they are not easily 
injured either by too much watering, 
or by being kept too dry. The most 
ornamental of the vigorous growing 
kinds are Achillea tomentbsa, the 
woolly Milfoil, with yellow flowers, 
and A. tanacetifblia with red flowers. 
Of the more delicate species, A. Cla- 
vennce, the silvery-leaved Milfoil, with 
large white flowers, is a very pretty 
little plant for rock-work ; but it is 
rather difficult to keep, unless it be 
grown in a dry soil and a shady situa- 
tion. A. aurea, which scarcely grow? 
half a foot high, and has lich yellow 
flowers, which it produces in great 
profusion, is very suitable for edgings 
to beds and borders ; as well as for 
growing in pots and on rock-work* 
The last species grows freely in any 
soil that is tolerably dry ; and they 
are all readily increased by division of 
the root. — (See Division.) 

Aconi'tum. — Ranunculacea. — 
Monkshood and Wolfsbane. — Herba- 
ceous perennials, chiefly natives of 
Europe, but partly of North America 
and Japan. They are all hardy in Bri- 
tish gardens, and they are generally 
tall-growing handsome plants, produ- 
cingabundance of dark-blue, purple, or 
yellow flowers. They will all grow 
freely in any common garden soil, and 
are readily increased by division of 
the root, or by seeds. All the species 
are more or less poisonous, the poison 
being strongest in the root. Like all 
plants which grow with tall erect 
stems, and produce their flowers in 
terminal spikes, they are only suitable 
for growing in borders in large gardens, 
or for clumps on a lawn. Some of 
the most common and handsomest 
species are A. Napellus, the com- 
£ 2 



ADESMIA. 



4 



AERIDES. 



mon Monkshood, with intensely dark- 
blue flowers, the root of which has fre- 
quently occasioned death, from having 
been eaten by mistake instead of 
celery; A. author a, the wholesome 
Wolfsbane, with very handsome yellow 
flowers, and the root of which, 
though poisonous in itself, is said to 
be an antidote to the poison of the 
common Monkshood ; A. ochroleu- 
cum, with pale yellow flowers, which 
are more curious than handsome, and 
A. septentrionale, a beautiful plant 
with dark purple flowers tipped with 
green, a native of the Carpathian 
mountains. All the species will grow 
to the height of three or four feet in 
the open air ; but they may be 
dwarfed and rendered bushy by grow- 
ing them in very small pots, and 
frequently shifting them into others, 
gradually getting larger, till they are 
about to flower, when the pots may be 
set out on a lawn or terrace, or plunged 
into the open ground. 
Aconite, Winter. — See Era'nthis. 

AcT.ffiA. — Ranunculacece . — Little 
British and European plants with 
white flowers, and black berries, 
which are poisonous. The English 
name of the genus is Bane-berry ; but 
the only British species is called Herb 
Christopher. It requires a shady 
situation, and a calcareous soil. 

A'cynos. — Labiates. — A perennial 
plant somewhat resembling thyme. 
A. vulgaris, the only ornamental 
species, is a native of Europe, not 
above six inches high, and of easy 
culture in any common soil. 

Adam's Needle. — See Yu'cca. 

Adenocarpus. — See Cytisus. 

Adeno'phora. — Campanulaceos. 
— Perennial plants with blue bell- 
shaped flowers, resembling the Cam- 
panulas. They require to be planted in 
rich but light soil, and are easily killed 
by much moisture. Natives of Siberia, 
and propagated by division of the root. 

Ade'smia, Dec. Legurninbsce. — 



Herbaceous plants and shrubs with 
yellow pea-like flowers, growing freely 
in the open air in any common soil. 

Adia'ntum. — Cri/ptogamia. — 
Maiden-hair, a kind of fern. 

Adlu x mia. — FumariacecB. — A 
climbing biennial, with pinkish 
flowers like those of the fumitory. 
It is a native of North America, and 
will grow in any common soil. The 
seeds should be sown in autumn, 
and the young plants kept in pots in 
a greenhouse or frame, for planting 
out in spring. Thus treated, and 
trained to a trellis or wire frame, 
they will begin to flower in June, 
and will continue producing abundance 
of flowers during the whole summer. 

Ado^nis. — Ranunculacece. — Her- 
baceous plants with showy flowers, 
natives of Europe, of easy culture in 
any common soil. The most orna- 
mental species are A. vernalis, the 
spring-flowering Adonis, a perennial 
with bright yellow flowers, which is 
quite hardy, and is easily increased by 
division of the root; and A . autumnalis, 
the common annual Flos Adonis, or 
Pheasant's Eye, with dark crimson 
flowers. All the species will grow 
in any common garden soil ; and the 
annual kinds should be sown in 
autumn, as they will stand the winter 
in the open air, — or in February or 
March, as they are a long time before 
they come into flower. The seeds 
will keep good several years. 

.ZEchme v a — Bromeliacece. — Parasi- 
tical stove-plants, natives of the West 
Indies, with leaves like the pine-apple, 
but producing their flowers (which 
are red and green, with bright scarlet 
bracteas,) in spikes. The fruit is a 
bright blue berry, and very orna- 
mental. 

^Eci'dium.— A kind of fungus which 
is sometimes found on the leaves of 
plants belonging to the genus Pyrus. 

Aeride v s. — Orchidacece. — Stove 
ephiphytes, natives of the East 



AGAPANTHUS. 



5 



AGAVE. 



Indies, with whitish flowers tbat have 
the odour of the tuberose. They 
should be grown on moss, and sus- 
pended from the rafters of a very 
damp hothouse. They are very diffi- 
cult to propagate. 

^Ischyna'nthus, Jack. ; Incarvi'llea, 
Rox. — Cyrtandracece. — Stove para- 
sitical shrubs, growing four or five feet 
high. Natives of India, where they 
are found in moist, shady woods, 
hanging from tree to tree, and produ- 
cing large bunches of their showy 
orange scarlet flowers. In England 
they should be grown in moss, or in 
vegetable mould and sand, and they 
should be allowed abundance of heat 
and moisture. They are very difficult 
to propagate. 

JE'sculus. — JEsculaceaz. — Most of 
the horse chestnuts are too large trees 
to be admitted into a work like the 
present ; hut the red-flowered horse- 
chestnut (JE. rubicunda) and its 
varieties, are seldom above twelve or 
fifteen feethigh, and theyare therefore 
very suitable for a shrubbery. The 
most beautiful variety is Whitley's 
Scarlet. These trees should be grown 
in a sheltered situation, or they will 
not flower well. For the yellow- 
flowered horse-chestnut, see Pavia. 

African Lily. — See Agapa'nthus. I 

African Marigold. — See Tage v tes. 

Agapa'nthus. — Hemerocallida- 
cece. — The Blue African Lily, A. 
umbelldtus, is a noble plant, with a 
hulbous root, somewhat resembling 
that of a leek ; and it retains its leaves 
all the winter. There is a variety with 
striped leaves. A. dlbidus has white 
flowers, but it does not differ from 
the common kind in any other respect. 
The African lilies all require a loamy 
soil, mixed with very rotten manure 
from an old hot-bed, so as to make it 
rich ; and they should he fully ex- 
posed to the light. They should also 
have plenty of water when they are 
in a growing state ; and they should 



be shifted repeatedly into larger and 
larger pots, each only a little larger 
than the preceding one, taking off the 
offsets every time, if any should be 
found, till the flower-buds are formed. 
The plants are always very large he- 
fore they flower ; and when the flower- 
buds form, they should be in a large 
pot, so that the roots may have plenty 
of room ; and they should be abun- 
dantly supplied with water, taking 
care, however, not to let any remain 
in a stagnant state about the roots. 
Thus treated, and kept in a green- 
house, or living-room, or under a 
veranda, this plant will frequently 
send up a flower-stalk above three feet 
high, crowned with twenty or thirty 
heads of flowers, which will come into 
blossom in succession. When in 
flower, it may be placed in the open 
air, and forms a noble ornament to an 
architectural terrace, or a fine object 
on a lawn. If the Agapanthus is 
wanted to flower, when of a compara- 
tively small size, it should not be so 
often shifted ; and when it is, the pots 
need not be so nearly of a size. Once 
shifting in spring will, indeed, be 
enough ; and if the roots are so large 
as to require a pot of inconvenient 
size (for the roots must have plenty of 
room), the hulb may be divided, and 
the strongest of the fibrous roots cut 
off without injuring the plant, or pre- 
venting it from flowering. 

Agaric. — Fungi, of the mushroom 
kind, but generally poisonous. 

Agathosma. — See Diosma, from 
which the plants composing the genus 
Agathosma have heen separated. 

Agave\ — BromeliacecB. — Succu- 
lent plants from South America, of 
which one species, the American Aloe, 
A. Americana, and a variegated- 
leaved variety of it, are old inhabi- 
tants of British gardens; having been 
formerly kept in tubs in the orangery 
or in some other house during win- 
ter, and set out during summer. The 



AITONIA. 



6 



ALLAMANDA. 



large leaves of the Agave render it by 
no means adapted for a small green- 
house ; but as it only requires to be 
protected from frost, it may be kept 
during the winter in a shed where 
there is very little light, and very sel- 
dom watered till summer, when it may 
be set out on a lawn or terrace ; and 
this mode of treatment may be applied 
to all succulent plants that are dor- 
mant during our winters. The Ame- 
rican Aloe requires a rich loamy soil, 
and is increased by suckers. It was 
formerly supposed that it produced its 
candelabra like blossoms only once 
in a hundred years ; but this is a vul- 
gar error, as it sometimes produces 
its flowers, in hot countries, in ten 
years, the period varying to twenty, 
fifty, or even seventy years, according 
to the climate, and the care bestowed 
on the plant by the gardener. The 
flower stem is frequently forty feet 
high, and the plant dies as soon as it 
has done flowering. The aloe is a 
native of Mexico, and the other tropi- 
cal parts of America ; but it has been 
almost naturalised in the south of 
Europe. In its native countries, a 
strong spirit is distilled from its sap, 
the fibres of its leaves are used for 
thread, and the feculent matter con- 
tained in its stem for soap. 

Ageratum. — Composite?. — Mexi - 
can annuals, with curious heads of 
small pale blue flowers. The seeds 
should be sown in a warm border in a 
light soil in April or May. 

Agrostemma. — The Rose Campion. 
See Lychnis. 

Air plants. — See Epiphytes. 

Aitonia. — Meliacece. — A Cape 
shrub, growing about three feet high, 
in a mixture of sandy loam and peat. 
The flowers are pink, and something 
like those of a campanula in shape ; 
but the plant is most ornamental in its 
capsules, which are of a fine pink co- 
lour, and of a very curious shape. It 
is propagated by cuttings struck in 



sand ; but if they are covered with a 
bell-glass, it should be taken off veiy 
frequently and wiped, as they are very 
apt to damp off. 

Ajax. — One of the genera formed 
by Mr. Ha worth, out of Narcissus, but 
not generally adopted by botanists. 

Ajuga. — Labiates. — The Bugle. 
"Well known plants generally with 
dark blue flowers, always growing in 
dry soil, and increased by division of 
the roots. A.chamcepitys, theground- 
pine, has yellow flowers. 

Alaternus. See Rhamnus. 

Albuca. — Asphodrfece. — Pretty 
Cape bulbs, with white flowers resem- 
bling the star of Bethlehem. For 
culture, see Ornithagalum. 

Alchemilla. — Rosacea. — Lady's 
Mantle. Hardy herbaceous plants, 
chiefly natives of the middle of En- 
rope, of the easiest culture. The 
most ornamental species is A. alpina, 
which seldom exceeds half a foot in 
height, with leaves of a deep green 
above, of a silky whiteness under- 
neath, and with greenish yellow 
flowers. It is admirably adapted for 
rock work, or growing in pots. 

Aletris. — Hemerocallidacece. — 
Colic root. A little queer-looking 
perennial, with white flowers, from 
North America, about half a foot 
high, and requiring peat soil, and a 
shady situation. It is propagated by 
offsets or seeds. 

AlexanorianLaurel. See Ruscus. 

Alkekengi. See Nicandra. 

Alisma. See Limnocharis. 

Alkanet. See Nonea. 

A llamanda. — Apocynacece. — 
Climbing stove shrubs, with splendid 
yellow convolvulus-shaped flowers. 
A. cathartica, a native of Guiana, is 
the most common species. They re- 
quire a light rich soil, kept frequently 
watered ; and they are increased by 
cuttings. Where a conservatory ad- 
joins an orchideous house, or stove, 
the Allamanda and other splendid 



ALLIUM. 



7 



ALOE. 



stove-climbers may be planted in the 
hothouse, and trained through a hole 
in the back wall into the conservatory, 
in the cool air of which the flowers will 
be more brilliant, and more agreeably 
seen, than in the damp hot air neces- 
sary for the roots. This plan was 
suggested, and has been acted upon 
by the Hon. and Rev. William 
Herbert at Spofforth, and by Mr. 
Beaton, the very intelligent gar- 
dener of T. Harris, Esq., at Kings- 
bury. There is no doubt, indeed, 
that the idea might be carried farther; 
and by plunging the pots in a hotbed, 
or pit heated by hot water, that the 
Allamanda, the splendid Ipomaea 
Horsfallii, the stove Passion flowers, 
particularly the Passiflora Kermisinii, 
and P. Loudoni, the Petraeas, and 
many others, might be trained over 
trellis-work, and verandas, in the open 
air, so as to cover them with their 
flowers. See Bottom Heat. 

Allium. — Asphodelece. — The 
garlic and onion tribe, of which there 
are above ahundred and fifty species in 
cultivation, natives of Europe and 
America, some few of which are con- 
sidered ornamental, and one, A. odd* 
rum, is sweet-scented. Among the 
ornamental species are A. Mbly, with 
yellow flowers ; A . descendens, with 
dark purple flowers; A. incarnation, 
with red flowers ; and A. Cowani, 
A. ChamcBmoly, and A. neapolita- 
num, with white flowers. All the 
species thrive in any common soil, 
and are increased abundantly by off- 
sets from the bulbs. In a garden 
devoted exclusively to bulbs, the Al- 
liums form a large and important 
group, from the great variety of their 
foliage, height, and time of flowering, 
and the different colours of the flowers ; 
but they differ from almost all other 
ornamental plants, as they do not admit 
of being gathered, and put into nose- 
gays, on account of their unpleasant 
smell. 



Allspice-tree. See Calycanthus. 

Almond. See Amygdalus. 

Aloe. — Hemerocallidacece. — The 
name of aloe is so frequently applied 
in conversation to the American aloe, 
or agave, that many persons are not 
aware that the true aloe is not only 
quite a different genus, but belongs to 
a different natural order ; the Ameri- 
can aloe being one of the pine-apple 
tribe, and the true aloe one of the 
day-lily tribe. The qualities of the 
two tribes are also essentially different; 
the American aloe abounds in starchy 
nourishing matter, while every part 
of the true aloe is purgative. The 
true aloe also flowers every year, and 
the flowers are tube-shaped, and pro- 
duced on a spike ; while each plant of 
the American aloe flowers but once, 
sending up an enormous flower stem, 
with candelabra-like branches and 
cup-shaped flowers. The true aloes 
are succulent plants, natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope ; and they grow 
best in this country in green-houses, 
or rooms, the pots being well drained, 
and the soil composed of a sandy loam, 
mixed with a little lime rubbish or 
gravel. To this, when the plants are 
wanted to attain a large size, may be 
added a little leaf mould. When 
grown in rooms, the poor soil is, how- 
ever, preferable, as it keeps the plants 
of a smaller and more manageable size, 
and makes them less easily affected 
by changes of the temperature, and of 
heat and dryness. The colours of the 
flowers will also be richer when the 
plants are grown in poor soil. The 
drug called aloes is made principally 
from the pulp of the fleshy leaf of the 
Aloe Soccotrina, the flowers of which 
are red, tipped with green ; but it is 
also made from several other species. 
A. vulgaris, sometimes called A. bar- 
badensis, has orange-yellow flowers; 
and the Partridge- breast Aloe, A. var- 
iegata, has variegated leaves. All the 
kinds should be frequently watered 



ALONSOA. 



8 



ALPINIA. 



■when they are in a growing state and 
about to flower ; but the water that 
runs through the mould in the pot, 
should always be poured directly out 
of the saucer ; as if water be allowed 
to remain in a stagnant state about the 
roots, the leaves will rot and drop off. 
It is to prevent water lodging round 
the crown of the plant, which would 
produce the same effect, that gravel or 
lime rubbish should always be mixed 
with the soil. When the plants have 
done flowering, water should be given 
to them very sparingly, not oftener 
than once a month ; and they should 
be kept in a dry, warm situation, 
where they will have plenty of light ; 
as in this respect also they differ from 
the Agave, which may be kept during 
the winter almost in darkness. The 
Aloe is generally propagated by off- 
sets or suckers, but in some instances 
they may be increased by stripping off 
a leaf, letting it dry for a day or two, 
and afterwards planting it, quite shal- 
low, in a pot of sandy soil, and giving 
it very little water. In the course of 
a few months, one or several buds 
will be found formed at the base of 
the leaf, and roots being thrown down 
from the same point, a new plant will 
be produced. 

Alonsoa Scrophularinece. — 

The Mask flower. The species are low 
under-sbrubs, or herbaceous plants, 
natives of Peru; and two of them, A. 
incisifolia, R. et P., and A. linearis, 
H. K., formerly known as Celsias, 
afterwards as Hemimeris urticifolia, 
&c, are very ornamental either in the 
greenhouse, or grown as annuals in 
the open border during summer. 
They thrive well in any light rich 
soil, and are readily increased by seeds 
or cuttings. They are very desirable 
for flower-gardens, on account of the 
brilliant scarlet of their flowers : and 
where there is no greenhouse the 
plants should be raised from seeds, 
sown on a hot-bed in February, or 



struck from cuttings early in spring, 
and brought forward in a frame or pit, 
and turned out into the open air in 
May. When kept in a greenhouse 
they should always be set out in the 
open air when the other plants are 
fumigated, as they are easily killed by 
tobacco smoke, or any other strongly 
smelling vapour. 

Aloysia. — Verbenacece. — The 
only species of this genus known in 
Britain is A. citriodbra, a native of 
South America, formerly called Ver- 
bena triphylla, or the lemon-scented 
verbena. It is a half hardy shrub, 
with panicles of small pinkish white 
flowers, and very fragrant leaves, 
which fall off in the winter. It re- 
quires a rich but light soil, well 
drained ; and when grown in pots, it 
should never have water kept in the 
saucer. In winter, after its leaves 
have dropped, it should be kept nearly 
dry till the buds begin to swell, 
when it should be watered frequently 
and abundantly, but the water should 
never be suffered to remain in a stag- 
nant state about the roots. It is easily 
propagated by cuttings, and only re- 
quires to be protected from severe 
frosts. 

Alpine Plants. — Dwarf plants, 
natives of high mountains, and usually 
with bright coloured flowers ; gener- 
ally employed for ornamenting rock 
work, and which, as they are covered 
with snow during winter in their 
native countries, require protection. 

Alpi'nia. — Scitaminece A genu9 

of reed -like plants, natives of the 
East Indies and South America, with 
large and showy white or pink flowers, 
of which one or two species merit a 
place in select collections of stove 
plants. A. nutans is one of the most 
common, and when grown in rich 
sandy soil, in a moist heat, with plenty 
of room, it will flower freely. Like 
most of the other Scitamineous gene- 
ra, there is a considerable degree of 



ALSTRCEMERIA. 



9 



ALTHAEA. 



sameness in all the species, both in 
flowers and fruit, and therefore one 
kind is enough for a small collection. 

Alsine'. — The ornamental kinds 
are now called Arenaria. — The com- 
mon Alsine is chickweed. 

Alstonia. — Apocynece. — Stove 
shrubs, natives of the East Indies, with 
jasmine-like flowers. 

Alstr(eme x ria. — Amaryllidacece. 
— This is a genus of tuberous-rooted 
plants, with beautiful flowers, natives 
of South America, and capable of be- 
ing grown to a high degree of perfec- 
tion in British gardens, in the stove, 
greenhouse, or open air, according to 
the species. The soil which suits all 
the Alstrcemerias is a mixture of 
sandy loam and leaf mould, or well- 
rotted dung. Of all the stove species, 
A. Ugtu, with white and scarlet 
flowers, is the most difficult to flower ; 
but by giving it abundance of water 
during summer, and a strong heat in 
December, it will flower in February ; 
and one plant will scent a whole house 
with fragrance like that of mignonette. 
After flowering the plants ought to be 
allowed to rest for three months, 
during which time very little water 
ought to be given to them. After this 
they should be repotted, and en- 
couraged to grow, by giving them 
plenty of water, &c. A. edulis, Jus. 
is another stove species, which climbs 
to the height of ten or twelve feet, 
and, like all other climbers, thrives 
best when turned out into the open 
border. It may, however, be grown 
in a pot, commencing with one of 
small size, and shifting it several 
times, till it is at last put into a pot 
of eight or nine inches in diameter, 
when a frame of wire, three feet or 
four feet high, may be fixed to the 
pot, and the stems trained over it. 
These species will live and flower in 
a greenhouse, but not so freely as in 
a stove. The treatment of the green- 
house species of Alstrcemeria, consists 



in setting the plants to rest by with- 
holding water after they have done 
flowering, which is generally about the 
end of July ; fresh potting them about 
October or November, and giving 
them plenty of heat and water during 
April and May, the time when their 
growth is most rapid, and when, from 
the brittleness of their shoots, and 
the tenderness of their leaves, they 
require to be sheltered or shaded 
from the sun and wind, The climb- 
ing species, A. acutifolia, L. et O. ; 
A. hirtella, Kunth, and A. salsil- 
la, L., succeed best both in flowering 
and ripening seeds, when planted in 
the border of a conservatory, or in the 
front of a stove or greenhouse, close 
under the wall, with protection during 
severe weather. Several of the species 
from Mexico, Chili, and Peru, will 
live in the open air in similar situa- 
tions ; and the greater part of these 
will grow luxuriantly, and in fine 
seasons will flower freely, producing 
flowers of a much darker colour than 
those which have been grown under 
glass, and they will even ripen seeds. 
Those species which have been found 
to succeed best in the open air, are A* 
pulchella, Sims, A. pelegrina, L., 
and A. versicolor, R. et P. All the 
species are readily increased by parting 
the roots or by seeds. 

Altagona. — See Caragana. 

Althaea. — Malvacece. — The Hol- 
lyhock. Strong herbaceous plants, 
natives of the middle and south of 
Europe, and also of India and China, 
of which one species, A. rosea, the 
common hollyhock, is one of our 
most splendid ornamental biennials. It 
grows to - the height of from five to 
eight feet, and there are varieties of 
almost every colour, including white, 
and purple so deep as to be almost 
black. The flowers being large, and 
the stems erect, the plants have the 
best effect when grown in rows at the 
back of a border ; or when one or two 



ALYSSUM. 



10 



AMARYLLIS. 



are planted along with round-headed 
plants — for example, with the French 
honeysuckle, the annual chrysanthe- 
mums, or any of the sweet peas, if 
trained to form a bush : but the Hol- 
lyhock produces its best effect when 
each plant rises by itself from a circu- 
lar patch in a lawn. An avenue of 
Hollyhocks, without any other flower- 
ing plants, is also very grand and or- 
namental, especially if the back- 
ground on each side of the avenue be 
a hedge of laurel or some other ever- 
green shrub. The fine effect of the 
Hollyhock with such a background, is 
no where better seen than at Drop- 
more. The seeds of Hollyhock, which 
is a biennial, should be sown in 
March ; in April, when the plants are 
up, they should be thinned out, and 
then suffered to remain till Septem- 
ber, when they should be transplanted 
to the place where they are to flower. 
As the Hollyhock requires a rich and 
strong soil, it will be advisable, if the 
general soil of the garden be not of 
that nature, to dig a pit two feet in 
diameter, and two feet deep, which 
should be filled with equal parts of 
good strong loam, and thoroughly 
rotten dung, chopped up and well 
mixed together with the spade. When 
the pit is filled, the earth should be 
allowed a few days to settle, and then 
filled up to the general level of the 
garden ; after which the young Holly- 
hocks should be planted in it, singly, 
if the plants be very strong, and three 
together if they should be weak. 
When the flower-stem appears, it 
should be tied to a stake, if not strong 
enough to support itself. 

Althaea Frutex. — See Hibiscus. 

Alyssum. — Cruciferce. — Mad- 
wort. Herbaceous plants, both peren- 
nial and annual, of low growth, and 
with showy flowers; chiefly natives of 
Europe. A. saxatile, which grows 
about a foot high, and which produces 
its yellow flowers in April, is one of 



the most ornamental of the perennial 
species, and well adapted either for 
rock-work or pots; as is A. deltoi- 
deum, L., Aubrietia deltoidea, Dec, 
which has purple flowers. The Sweet 
Alyssum, A. halimifolium, or A. 
calycinum, now called Konigamari- 
tima, which has white flowers, is well 
adapted for edgings to beds. All the 
species are of the easiest culture in 
common soil, if not kept too moist, 
but they thrive best in saud or gravel. 
The perennial species are readily in- 
creased by cuttings planted under a 
hand-glass, and the annual ones by 
seeds. Though the perennial species 
are very hardy, yet as they are in 
truth not true perennials but plants 
with half - shrubby or suffruticose 
stems, they are apt to be injured by 
either severe winters or very hot sum- 
mers, (for, though injured by much 
wet, the roots will soon wither if they 
are kept too dry), and consequently 
they require to be renewed every 
three or four years. (See Suffruti- 
cose Plants.) 

Amarantus. — Amaranthacece. 
— An extensive genus of annuals, 
chiefly natives of warm climates, most 
of which will flower in the open air in 
this country, if sown in February on a 
hot bed, and planted out in May. 
The most common species are A. hy- 
pochondriacus, the prince's feather; 
and A. caudatus, love-lies-bleeding, 
both old inhabitants of British gar- 
dens, and of the easiest culture. A. 
tricolor is a greenhouse annual, 
chiefly remarkable for the red and 
white blotches in the centre of its 
leaves. The leaves of all the species 
may be used as spinach, and they are 
so employed in China. 

Amaranth. — The amaranth of the 
poets is generally supposed to be the 
globe amaranth. — See Gomphrena. 

Amaryllis Amaryllidaceee. — 

Bulbous plants, chiefly natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope and South 



AMARYLLIS. 



1 



1 



AMELLUS- 



America ; but which have been in- 
creased in number tenfold by hybrids 
and varieties raised in England, prin- 
cipally by tbe Hon. and Rev. W. 
Herbert, and tbe late Mr. Sweet. 
All the kinds are eminently orna- 
mental, and they are all of easy cul- 
ture ; tbe great secret being to give 
them alternately a season of excite- 
ment and a season of repose. To do 
this effectually, the plants should be 
abundantly supplied with water and 
heat, and placed near the glass when 
they are coming into flower, and 
water should be withheld from them 
by degrees, when they have done 
flowering, till they have entirely 
ceased growing; when they should be 
kept quite dry, and in a state of rest. 
When in this state they may be placed 
in any obscure part of a stove or 
greenhouse where it is dry, and of a 
temperature not under forty or fifty 
degrees. If kept in such a situation 
during winter, some kinds may be 
turned out into a warmer border in 
spring, where they will flower ; and if 
the season be fine they will renew 
their bulbs in time to be taken up 
before tbe approach of frost. The 
chief value of these plants, however, 
is to produce flowers in the winter 
season, which they readily do if they 
are kept dry and dormant during the 
latter part of the summer and autumn. 
Indeed, by having a large stock of 
these bulbs, a regular succession of 
flowers might be procured during 
every month in the year. When the 
dormant bulbs are intended to be 
thrown into flower, they should be 
fresh potted in sandy loam and leaf 
mould, and put into a stove or hot- 
bed, the heat beginning at fifty degrees, 
and ascending to sixty or seventy de- 
grees ; and when the leaves appear, 
they should be supplied abundantly 
with water. Where seeds are wanted 
the watering must be continued, though 
somewhat less abundantly, after the 



flowers have faded, till the seeds are 
ripe ; and when these are gathered, 
they ought to be sown immediately in 
light sandy loam, and placed in a 
frame, or near the glass, in a moist 
part of the hothouse. If the young 
plants are potted off as soon as they 
are an inch or two in height, and 
shifted frequently in the course of the 
growing season, they will attain a 
flowering size in from fifteen to 
twenty months. The pots in which 
these and all other bulbs are grown, 
ought to be thoroughly drained by a 
handful or more of pot-sherds (broken 
pots) laid in the bottom of each pot, 
and covered with turfy peat ; and the 
mould used should also be turfy, in 
order the more freely to admit the 
passage of water. 

Amberboa, Dec. — Composites. — 
Sweet Sultan. Well-known half-hardy 
annuals, natives of Persia, the seeds of 
which may be sown in the open border 
in April or May. 

Ambrosia. — Composilce. — Weedy 
plants of no beauty, with spikes of 
very small greenish flowers, and cut 
leaves, which, when bruised, have 
rather an agreeable smell. Though 
among the annuals in some of the old 
seed catalogues, they are now scarcely 
ever grown except in botanic gardens. 

Amelanchier.— Rosacea. — Deci- 
duous shrubs or low trees, with showy 
white flowers, which appear in April. 
A. vulgaris and A. botryapium, tbe 
snowy Mespilus, are very desirable 
species for shrubberies. They are 
commonly propagated by grafting on 
the hawthorn, and they will grow in 
any soil, and require very little prun- 
ing. Like other rosaceous shrubs, 
however, they are very liable to have 
their foliage injured by caterpillars. 

Amellus, Dec. — Composite. — 
There are only two species, one a 
greenhouse perennial, and the other an 
aster-like annual. Amellus annuus, 
which was formerly called Kaulfus- 



AMPELOPSIS. 



12 



AMYGDALUS. 



sia amelloides, and which is a very 
pretty little plant, is remarkable from 
the curious rolling up of its petals. 
Both species are natives of the Cape, 
and as they require a light soil, will 
not grow in clay without the addition 
of sand. 

American Aloe. — See Agave. 

American Convolvulus. — See Ca- 
lystegia. 

American Cowslip. — See Dode- 
catheon. 

Amethystea. — Labiates. — An an- 
nual plant with blue flowers ; a native 
of Siberia, of easy culture in any soil 
or situation, except that it will not 
bear transplanting, unless when it is 
in the seed leaf. 

Ammonium. — Composite A kind 

of everlasting flower, with a yellow 
disk and white ray like a daisy. A 
native of New South Wale9, where it 
was found growing in pure sand. It 
is generally grown from seeds as an 
annual ; but by taking cuttings from 
it, it may be kept two or three years. 

Amorpha. — Leguminosce. — Deci- 
duous shrubs, with pinnate leaves, 
from North America, varying from 
two to six feet in height, with showy 
dark blue and orange flowers in ter- 
minal spikes. A. Lewisii has flowers 
of gold and purple of great beauty 
when examined closely. All the 
species are of comparatively short 
duration ; their wood being soft, with 
a large proportion of pith, and their 
branches very liable to be broken off 
by high winds ; in other respects they 
are of easy culture in sandy soil, and 
they are readily propagated by cut- 
tings or layers. Indigo is made from 
the pulpy part of the leaves of A. 
indigofera, an East Indian species. 

Ampelopsis, Mx. — Vitacece. — A. 
hederacea, is well known by its Eng- 
lish names of Virginian creeper, and 
five-leaved ivy. Its flowers have no 
beauty, but it is worth cultivating as 
an ornamental plant, from the bril- 



liant scarlet which its leaves assume 
in autumn ; and which look particu- 
larly well at that season, when inter- 
mingled with those of the common 
ivy, from the fine contrast they afford. 
The plant is of very rapid growth in 
any common soil, and it is propagated 
by layers, or cuttings. 

Amphicome\ Royle. — Bignonia- 
cece. — A very beautiful Nepal peren- 
nial, with tube-shaped pink flowers. 
It appears quite hardy, but as it is ne~ 
cessary to give it a period of complete 
rest, during which it should have 
scarcely any water, it is safer to keep 
it in a greenhouse, at least during 
winter, allowing it abundance of light. 
It may be propagated by either seeds 
or cuttings, though the first are some- 
times two years before they vegetate, 
and the cuttings are very difficult to 
strike. The soil it is grown in should 
be loam, mixed with a little heath 
mould, or sand. 

Amygoalus. — Rosacea. — There 
are two species of Almonds which are 
highly ornamental, on account of their 
flowers. A. nana, which does not 
grow above two feet high, and pro- 
duces its red flowers in March ; and 
A. communis, which forms a small 
deciduous tree, profusely covered with 
flowers, in March and April, before it 
expands its leaves. There are several 
varieties of both species, but the only 
one which is worth notice, is the large 
flowered Almond, A. c. macrocarpa, 
which has much larger flowers than the 
common kind, though they are much 
paler. The dwarf almond is propa- 
gated by suckers, and the other species 
and varieties by grafting on the com- 
mon plum. What is generally known 
in gardens as the double dwarf almond, 
is now called by botanists, Cerasus, 
or Prunus japonica. Whenever 
the tree Almond is planted for its 
flowers, care should be taken to let it 
have a back ground of evergreens ; 
as otherwise, from the flowers being 



ANDROMEDA. 



13 



ANEMONE. 



produced before the leaves, half their 
beauty will be lost from the cold and 
naked appearance of the tree. All 
the Almonds will grow and blossom 
freely in the smoke of London. 

Anagallis. — Primulacece. — The 
Pimpernel. Trailing herbaceous 
plants, natives of the middle and south 
of Europe. The common wild pim- 
pernel, A. arvensis, is red, but the 
exotic species vary to several shades 
of purple, lilac, and blue. The finest 
species is A. Monelli, which requires 
the protection of the greenhouse 
during winter, but which forms a 
beautiful close covering for a flower- 
bed in the open garden in summer, 
producing its fine mazarine blue 
flowers from May to September. It 
is easily propagated by cuttings which 
root immediately in sand under a 
hand-glass, and it will thrive in any 
light soil. 

Anchusa. — Boragineoe. — Coarse 
growing plants, annuals and peren- 
nials, natives of the south of Europe, 
and in part of Asia and Africa, re- 
markable for their intensely blue 
flowers, in some cases varied with red 
and white. The finest species is A. 
particulate/,, or italica, the Italian 
Bugloss, which is common in gar- 
dens. The flowers are in erect leafy 
spikes, and are of a brilliant blue, with 
their backs and buds of a reddish 
purple, and the plant continues 
flowering from June to September. 
The most ornamental of the annual 
species are now included in the genus 

NoNEA. 

Andrachne. See Arbutus. 

Andro'meda. — Ericeoe, — Low 
deciduous and evergreen heath-like 
shrubs, chiefly natives of North Ame- 
rica, and some of which are very orna- 
mental. The species which were 
comprised in the genus Andromeda 
of Linnaeus, have been divided by 
Professor Don into seven genera ; 
viz., Cassiope, Cassandra, Zenobia, 



Lyonia, Leucothoe, Pieris, and Ago- 
nista ; but the plants are still known 
by their old names in most of the 
nurseries. The species left in An- 
dromeda by Professor Don, are A. 
polifolia, and A, rosmarinifolia. 
The handsomest species are A. spe- 
ciosa (Zencbia), A. racemosa (Lyo- 
nia), A. Catesbeii (Leucothoe spinu- 
losa), zxAA.floribunda (Leucothoe). 
All the species are generally grown in 
heath mould, or peat, but they will 
also thrive in very fine sandy loam. 
In whatever soil they may be grown, 
the roots should never be suffered to 
become quite dry ; as like those of 
all the hair- rooted plants, when once 
withered, they cannot be restored ; 
and the plant has seldom vigour 
enough to send out a sufficient quan- 
tity of new ones. All the kinds are 
propagated by layers. 

Androsa n ce x . — Primulacece. — Lit- 
tle insignificant plants, not worth 
growing except for rockwork ; and 
only suited for that purpose, from 
their feeble habit of growth, which 
prevents them from spreading fast. 

Andros^mum. — Hypericinacece. 
— A handsome evergreen British 
plant, with showy yellow flowers ; 
very useful in covering the ground in 
shrubberies. It prefers a moist, shady 
situation, and is uninjured by the drip 
of trees. The English name of thia 
plant is Tutsan. 

Anemone. — Ranunculaceoe. — All 
the plants belonging to this genus are 
beautiful and well deserving of culti- 
vation; from the little white wood 
Anemone {A. nemoralis), to the 
largest Dutch varieties of A. corona- 
ria, which have been sometimes 
known to be six inches in diameter. 
The wild anemones, that is those 
found in the woods, and the Pasque- 
flower (A. Pulsatilla, or P. vulga- 
ris), require but little care in their 
culture ; but the garden varieties of 
A. hortensis, and A. coronaria, will 



ANEMONE. 



1 



4 



ANIGOZANTHOS. 



need all the attention usually be- 
stowed on a florist's flower. Of the 
other kinds, A. palmata, with bright 
yellow flowers, is best deserving of 
cultivation. The hepatica was once 
called Anemone hepatica, though 
this name has been long changed to 
Hepatica triloba. The florists' ane- 
mones spring from two species : the 
garland or Poppy Anemone, A. coro- 
naria, with the outer petals, or rather 
sepals, rounded ; and the Star Ane- 
mone, A. hortensis, or stellata, with 
them pointed. To these may perhaps 
be added a third, A. pavonina, resem- 
bling the last. The tubers of these fine 
kinds of anemones, and their hybrids 
and varieties, are sold in the seed- 
shops by the hundred. They should 
be planted in October, in beds pre- 
pared for their reception ; and where 
expense is not an object, these beds 
should be dug out to the depth of 
about a foot. In the bottom of the 
pit thus formed, should be spread a 
layer of rotten cow-dung, six or eight 
inches thick; and on this, fresh loamy 
soil, so as to raise the bed three or 
four inches above the level of the 
walks. The surface of the bed is then 
raked smooth, and drills or furrows 
made in it about five inches apart, and 
two inches deep. A little sand should 
be strewed along these drills, and the 
anemone roots placed in them three 
or four inches apart. Care must be 
taken, in planting, to let the tubers 
have the side which contains the bud 
uppermost ; and it sometimes requires 
rather a close examination to discover 
which side this is, particularly if the 
dry fibrous roots have been rubbed 
off, as the bud is not very conspicuous. 
All the pieces accidentally broken off 
should be preserved, as they will all 
grow, and form fresh tubers. The 
bed should be covered with bast mats 
stretched over hoops, or bundles of 
siraw tied together, when danger is 
apprehended from frost ; but this co- 



vering should be so contrived as to be 
easily removed when necessary, as the 
tubers are very liable to be injured, 
and even to become mouldy, by damp. 
When the plants begin to grow, they 
should be frequently watered with 
rain water, so as never to allow the 
fibrous roots to wither from drought ; 
and when the plants have done flower- 
ing, the mats on hoops should be 
again stretched over the bed, and the 
plants kept quite dry, till their leaves 
be brown and wither, which will ge- 
nerally be in about a month after they 
have done flowering. The tubers 
should then be taken up, and kept 
dry, till the return of the proper sea- 
son for planting. When seedling 
anemones are to be raised, the seed 
should be divested of its pappus, by 
rubbing it between the hands, or 
through a sieve, and sown in pots or 
boxes in August ; the young tubers 
should be taken up Avhen the leaves 
wither the following summer, and re- 
planted in autumn, when they will 
flower the following spring. 

Angelica-tree. See Aralia. 

Angelonia. — Scrophularinece. — 
An evergreen perennial, with very 
beautiful blue flowers, a native of 
South America. It should be kept 
in a cool airy part of the stove, or in 
a greenhouse ; and it should be al- 
lowed a season of rest, during which 
it should have scarcely any water. 
The soil should be a very sandy 
loam, mixed with peat earth, and it 
may be propagated, though with diffi- 
culty, by cutiings, struck in pure 
sand. 

Anigozanthos. — Haemodoracece. 
— Evergreen herbaceous plants from 
New Holland, with deep crimson 
and green flowers, one of which, A. 
Maiiylesii, well deserves a place 
in every greenhouse. It should have 
abundance of light and air, and grows 
freely in loam and peat, kept moist ; 
it is readily increased by division, 



ANNUALS. 



1 



5 



ANNUALS. 



or by seeds, which it has ripened in 
this country. 

Annuals. — Plants which live only 
one summer ; and which, with refer- 
ence to their culture in British gar- 
dens, are either tender, half-hardy, or 
hardy. Tender annuals are kept 
during the whole period of their 
growth under glass ; half-hardy an- 
nuals are raised under glass, and after- 
wards transplanted into the open gar- 
den ; and hardy annuals are sown in 
the open garden. 

Tender Annuals are sown in Fe- 
bruary or March, in pots of light rich 
earth, and placed in a hotbed ; and as 
soon as the plants are come up, they 
are transplanted into pots of the very 
smallest size, one in each pot ; which 
is called pricking them out. These 
small pots are again set in the hotbed 
as near the glass as possible, and 
slightly shaded during sunshine. In 
a week or two, when the roots have 
made their appearance on the outside 
of the ball of earth, which is known 
by turning the plant out of the pot, 
to examine the ball, and replacing it, 
the plants are shifted into pots one 
size larger ; and this shifting is conti- 
nued from time to time, always into 
pots, only a little larger than those the 
plants were taken out of ; till at last 
the plants are in pots six, eight, or 
nine inches in diameter, according to 
their nature, and the size to which it 
is wished to grow them. In all the 
shiftings, light rich mould must be 
used to fill up the pots, and sufficient 
drainage secured, by placing potsherds 
in the bottom of each pot. In general, 
the more frequently the plant is 
shifted, the larger and more bushy it 
will become before it flowers ; but 
when once flower-buds have made 
their appearance, no farther advan- 
tage can be gained from shifting, the 
growth of the plant being then ma- 
ture. Some persons water tender 
annuals with liquid manure, which is 



found to answer in the case of bal- 
sams, coxcombs, and other strong 
growing plants, but to injure more 
tender growing kinds. The extraor- 
dinary size that balsams and coxcombs 
may be brought to by repeatedly shift- 
ing them in this manner, is not only 
gratifying in itself, but interesting and 
instructive, as showing the effect of 
art on plants. The balsam in a wild 
state in the East Indies, is seldom 
seen above a foot in height, with a 
stem half an inch in diameter ; but in 
British hothouses it has been grown 
to the height of five feet, with a stem 
as thick as a man's leg. We have 
omitted to observe, that during the 
whole process of shifting, the tempe- 
rature in which the plants are kept 
should be from sixty to seventy or 
even eighty degrees during sunshine ; 
and that they should be so abundantly 
supplied with water, that the air 
should be constantly charged with 
moisture : but when the plants begin 
to flower, they ought to be removed 
to a dry airy situation, and the tem- 
perature gradually lowered. The dry 
air, and the lowering of the tempera- 
ture, will not only increase the inten- 
sity of the colours of the flowers and 
leaves, but will prolong the duration 
of the plant. 

Half-hardy Annuals may be 
sown either in pots, or in a bed of 
earth, on a slight hotbed, in February 
or March ; and after they have come 
up they may be pricked out into pots, 
or into another slight hotbed, where 
they may remain till the beginning 
of May, when they should be trans- 
planted into the beds or borders in the 
open garden, where they are finally to 
remain. In most cases, however, it is 
not worth while to prick out the plants 
in a second hotbed ; and sometimes 
they may be sown in pots, and thinned 
out to two or thiee plants in a pot ; 
and when they have grown two or 
three inches high, the bull of earth, 



ANNUALS. 



16 



ANNUALS. 



and the plants in it, may be turned 
out into the open border. This mode 
is well adapted for strong clay soils, 
because when plants from a hotbed are 
transplanted into such soils, they 
commonly receive a severe check ; 
whereas when they are turned out 
with balls, provided the soil round 
them is settled by a good watering, 
they receive no check whatever. The 
soil in which half-hardy annuals are 
raised, should be light and rich, be- 
cause it is only in such a soil that the 
tender seedlings will grow vigorously, 
and produce numerous fibrous roots, 
without which they would produce 
but little effect when turned out into 
the open garden. The more showy 
kinds of half-hardy annuals are the 
French and African Marigolds, Chi- 
nese and German Asters, Zinnias, the 
purple Jacobaea, and a number of 
others. Brompton, ten-weeks, and 
German stocks, though quite hardy, 
make better plants, and consequently 
flower more vigorously when so raised. 
There are few plants more truly or- 
namental than the different kinds of 
stock; and when these are raised under 
glass, pricked out into pots of the 
smallest size, and gradually shifted 
from pots of two inches to those of 
ten inches in diameter, they will make 
winter ornaments for greenhouses and 
dining-rooms, which for fine masses 
of colour are unequalled by any pro- 
duction of tropical climates. Bromp- 
ton stocks, treated in this manner, 
have been known to attain the height 
of six feet, and to live and flower for 
three years. 

Hardy Annuals are generally sown 
in the open garden, where they are 
finally to remain ; or they may be 
sown in pots or seed-beds to transplant 
into their final situation, when they 
are two or three inches high. The 
latter mode is preferable with all the 
California annuals,which growstronger 
and flower better when sown in 



autumn, and suffered to stand the 
winter in the open air, than when 
they are sown with the other annuals 
in spring. About an inch in thickness 
of very light soil should be laid on a 
hard surface of rock or gravel, in any 
obscure part of the garden, and in this 
the seeds should be sown the first 
week in September. In March or 
April, according to the season, when 
the flower-beds and borders have been 
dug over and prepared, the young 
seedlings should be taken up by spade- 
fuls and laid over the bed, filling up 
all the interstices between the patches 
with earth, so as to make the surface 
even. Thus treated, the Nemophilas, 
the Leptosiphous, the Collinsias, the 
Lasthenias, and, in short, all the 
Californian annuals will be splendidly 
in flower in May and June. 

When the seeds of annuals are 
sown, the ground should first be made 
firm by pressing it with the saucer of 
a flower-pot, or the back of the spade; 
the 6eeds should then be sprinkled 
thinly over the ground, and just 
covered with fine earth, which should 
be slightly pressed down over them. 
"When they come up, if they appear 
too thick, they should be thinned out 
so as to leave each plant standing 
apart ; the distance at which they are 
left from each other varying, of course, 
according to the strength and habit of 
growth of the plant. The plants of 
some kinds of annuals will bear trans- 
planting after they have been taken 
up in thinning, but generally they are 
not worth the trouble of replanting. 
The seeds when sown are often de- 
stroyed by birds ; but this may be 
prevented by turning a flower-pot 
over each patch till the seeds have 
germinated, taking care, however, to 
remove it as soon as the plants begin 
to grow, lest they should be drawn 
up by the shelter thus afforded, and 
become weak. Snails and slugs are 
dangerous enemies to young and ten- 



ANTHYLLIS. 



17 



ANTIRRHINUM. 



der annuals, and care should be taken 
to search for them early in the morn- 
ing and late in the evening ; or to de- 
stroy them by watering the ground 
with lime water, so weak as not to 
disfigure the plants. 

Anona, L. — Anonacece. — The 
Custard Apple. — Stove shrubs and 
low trees, natives of the East and 
West Indies. The hardy species are 
now formed into a separate genus, 
under the name of Asimina ; and one 
species, A. triloba, which has very 
curious flowers, is frequently found in 
gardens and shrubberies. 

Anomathe v ca. — Iridacece. — Cape 
bulbs, with red flowers, and rather 
curious capsules, which have the ap- 
pearance of being frosted. The bulbs 
should be planted in April, when they 
will produce flowers in June, and 
continue flowering till September. 
They should be taken up in November, 
and kept in a dry place till the follow- 
ing April. A.juncea was formerly 
considered a Lapeyrousia. 

A'nthemis. — Composites. — The 
Chamomile. — A. Pyrethrum, the 
Pellitory of Spain, is a pretty little 
perennial, with large white flowers, 
stained with lilac on the back. It is 
a suitable plant for rock -work, or 
boxes in a balcony, as it requires a 
warm dry situation. Miller raised 
this plant in rather a curious way in 
1732, finding its seeds among some 
Malaga raisins to which they had ad- 
hered. The root was formerly con- 
sidered a cure for the toothache. The 
Arabian chamomile, a pretty low- 
growing hardy annnal, with yellow 
flowers, is now called Cladanthus 
Arabicus. 

Antholyza. — Iridacea. — Cape 
bulbs with showy flowers. For their 
culture, see Anomatheca. 

Anthyllis. — Leyuminosce. — Kid- 
ney vetch. Dwarf plants with pretty 
flowers ; generally used for rock- 



work ; which are quite hardy, &c. ; 
will grow in any common soil. 

Ants are very troublesome crea- 
tures in hothouses and greenhouses, 
and it is very difficult to get rid of 
them. As, however, it has been 
found that the liquor discharged by 
ants is very acid and acrid, the idea 
presented itself that alkalies would 
be disagreeable to them ; and experi- 
ence proves this so far to be the case, 
that a circle of chalk or lime laid 
round any plant, will effectually pre- 
vent the ants from touching it. 

Antirrhinum. — Scrophularince. 
— The Snapdragon. Annual and 
perennial plants, natives of the middle 
and south of Europe, and of which 
one species, A. rnajus, the common 
snapdragon, is in almost every garden. 
There are many varieties of this species, 
the finest of which, A. m. caryophyl- 
lo'ides, has the flowers striped like 
those of a flaked carnation. All the 
species of snapdragon grow in any 
soil that is tolerably dry, and they are 
readily increased by cuttings ; for 
though they produce abundance of 
seeds, yet the varieties can only be 
perpetuated with certainty by the 
former mode of propagation. The 
beautiful carnation-like variety will, 
indeed, very seldom produce striped 
flowers two years in succession from 
the same root ; and thus a person who 
has purchased a plant with beautifully 
striped flowers, will generally have the 
mortification the second year to find 
it produce nothing but flowers of the 
common snapdragon, unless he has 
taken the precaution to make cuttings 
from the young shoots of his plant, 
and has thrown the root away. As 
this plant in its wild state is very com- 
monly found growing on the tops of 
old walls, it may be considered as one 
of the most ornamental plants foi 
placing in such a situation. Many of 
the plants formerly called Antirrhi- 
c 



AQUARIUM. 



18 



ARALIA. 



num, are now removed to the genus 
Linaria. 

Aphis. — The green fly or plant- 
louse is one of the most troublesome 
insects to the gardener, particularly 
on rose trees. These insects lay their 
first set of eggs (which are small and 
black) in autumn, near the axils of 
the buds. These eggs are hatched in 
February or March, but as only a few 
insects appear, they generally escape 
unnoticed, and, after twice casting 
their skins, arrive at their full growth 
in April. From this period to the end 
of summer, brood after brood is pro- 
duced with almost inconceivable ra- 
pidity ; and as these aphides are all 
born alive, they begin to devour the 
plants on which they appear imme- 
diately. The tenth generation usually 
appears about September, and these 
insects lay eggs for the first brood the 
following spring. The best way of 
preventing the attacks of these insects 
is washing the branches of the rose 
trees with soft soap and water in 
January or February ; or, in short, 
any time before the buds begin to 
swell. When they have appeared, 
the best way to destroy them is to lay 
the infested branches on the hand, 
and gently to brush off the insects with 
a soft brush. Some gardeners employ 
tobacco water, but when this is used 
the shoots should only remain a few 
seconds in the tobacco water, and then 
be washed immediately in clean cold 
water, or they will become so black- 
ened and withered, that the remedy 
will be worse than the insects. Snuff 
and lime-water are liable to the same 
objections, as both greatly disfigure the 
plants. 

Aquarium. — A pond, basin, or cis- 
tern of water, for the growth of water 
plants. In a pond in the open garden, 
the plants may either be grown in 
pots, plunged to the depth of one or 
two feet in the water, or they may he 
planted in the bottom of the pond. 



The former is generally the best mode, 
because the plants are by that means 
kept distinct, and th stronger cannot 
overpower the weaker. At the same 
time very strong ground plants, such 
as the white and yellow water-lilies, 
do not flower freely unless in the free 
soil, or in very large tubs. There 
are few greenhouse aquatics, but a 
number of stove plants, which re- 
quire to be grown in water; such as 
the Indian Lotus, or Nelumbium, 
&c, and these are necessarily grown in 
pots of moderate size. The most suit- 
able soil is a rich loam. The papyrus, 
though properly speaking it is a marsh 
plant, is generally grown in an aqua- 
rium. See Marsh Plants. 

Aquilegia. — Ranunculaceee. — 
The Columbine. Perennial herba- 
ceous plants, growing from one to two 
feet high, of which several species are 
very ornamental ; more especially the 
common columbine, A. vulgaris, and 
its varieties, A. alpina, A. canaden- 
sis, and A. glandulbsa. They grow 
in any common soil that is dry ; 
and the species are increased by seeds 
which will keep a long time, and the 
varieties by division of the root. 

Arabis. — Cruciferce. — Wall-cress. 
Herbaceous plants, chiefly annuals and 
biennials, natives of Europe, many of 
which are remarkable for their early 
flowering. A. alpina has white and 
yellowflowers, which appear in March, 
and A. dlbida flowers the greater part 
of the year, commencing in mild win- 
ters in January, and producing its large 
tufts of white blossoms till October. 
Some of the species and varieties, such 
as A. verna, A. alpina nana, and 
A. bellidifblia, do not grow above 
three inches high, and are admirable 
plants for rockwork, or gardens of 
pots. 

Aralia. — AraliacecB. — Hardy suf- 
fruticose plants, and stove shrubs, with 
umbels of small white flowers. The 
commonest species is A. spinosa, 



ARBUTUS. 



19 



ARISTOLOCHIA. 



useful in a shrubbery for its hardiness, 
and for its thriving in any poor gra- 
velly soil. There is a new species, 
A. japonica, which is said to be very 
handsome. 

Arbor vitje. — See Thuja. 

Arboretum. — A collection of trees 
and shrubs, containing only one or 
two plants of a kind, arranged together 
according to some system or method. 
The most common arrangement is 
that of the Natural System ; but the 
plants in an arboretum may be placed 
together according to the countries of 
which they are natives ; according to 
the soil in which they grow; or accord- 
ing to their sizes and habits, or time 
of leafing, or flowering. In all small 
villa residences an arboretum is the 
most effectual means of procuring a 
maximum of enjoyment in a mini- 
mum of space, as far as trees and 
shrubs are concerned. To render an 
arboretum useful and interesting, 
each tree and shrub should be 
named. 

Arbours. — Seats or resting-places, 
forming terminations to walks, or 
fixed in retired parts of shrubberies or 
pleasure-grounds. In general, every 
straight walk ought to lead to some 
object of use, as well as of beauty ; 
and an arbour is oue of those in most 
common use. The structure being 
formed, climbing plants, ligneous or 
herbaceous, are planted all around it 
at the base of the trellis work, or 
frame, against which, as they elimb 
up, they ought to be tied and trained, 
so as to spread over the whole arbour. 
Some of the best plants for this pur- 
pose are the different species of 
honeysuckle, roses, and clematis ; and 
the laburnum, the periploca graca, 
the maurandias, the wistarias, eccre- 
mocarpus scabra, lophospermum, rho- 
dochiton, the Virginian creeper, cobsea 
scandens, and ivy. 

Arbutus. — Ericaceae. — The 
Strawberry-tree. Well-known ever- 



green shrubs, of which A. Unedo 
rubra deserves to be mentioned for 
the beauty of its flowers ; A. canari- 
ensis, a greenhouse species, has also 
very showy flowers ; and A. An- 
drdchne, which is the tenderest of the 
open air kinds, is remarkable for the 
looseness and redness of its bark. All 
the species are very ornamental, and 
of free growth ; and they all thrive 
best in heath mould, or very sandy 
loam. They are propagated by layers 
or cuttings. 

Arctotis. — Composites. — Under- 
shrubs and herbaceous plants, natives 
of the Cape of Good Hope, and of 
which one species, A. dspera, has 
large yellow flowers, and is truly or- 
namental. It grows freely in loamy 
soil, and is increased by cuttings 
planted in sand under a hand-glass. 

Ardisia. — Myrsinece. — A genus 
of stove shrubs, of which A. lentigi- 
nbsa is very ornamental for its scar- 
let fruit. They all grow in loam and 
peat, and cuttings root freely in sand 
in a moist heat under a hand-glass. 
They may also be increased by cut- 
tings of the root placed in heat. 

Argemone. — Papaveracece. — 
Prickly-poppy. Highly ornamental 
hardy annuals and perennials from 
Mexico, with large flowers like those 
of the poppy, and of the easiest cul- 
ture. The plants spreading widely, to 
look handsome require a good deal 
of room. 

Aristolochia. — Asarince. — Birth- 
wort. The aristolochias are mostly 
climbing plants, requiring the heat of 
a stove; but A. Sipho, A. tomen- 
tosa, and A. Arkansa, natives of 
North America, are hardy enough to 
endure the open air in Britain, with- 
out the slightest protection. They 
are all remarkable for the very sin- 
gular shape of their flowers, and their 
disagreeable smell. They should be 
grown in sandy loam and peat ; and 
they are propagated by cuttings, 
c 2 



ARUM. 



20 



ARUM. 



Aristotelea. — Homalinece. — A. 
Macqni is a handsome shrub, a na- 
tive of North America, which is rather 
tender in the open ground. 

Armeria. — Plumbaginece. — 
Thrift. Hardy perennials, most of 
•which are ornamental from their 
flowers ; and one species, A. vulga- 
ris, the common thrift, is the best 
flowering plant for edgings to beds and 
borders. (See Edgings. ) It thrives 
in any soil not saturated with mois- 
ture, and is rapidly increased by 
division. A. alpina, which pro- 
duces its pink flowers from May to 
August, is a most desirable plant for 
pots, or rock work. 

Artemisa. — Composites This 

genus contains, among other plants, 
two well-known shrubs ; the southern- 
wood or old man, Artemisa Arbro- 
tanum, and the wormwood, A. Ab- 
sinthium. They are both very hardy, 
and will grow in any common soil ; 
and the southernwood is valuable for 
bearing want of air, and smoke, without 
injury. Few persons are, perhaps, 
aware, that the leaves of this plant, 
when held up against a strong light, 
appear full of transparent dots ; 
these are the vesicles containing the 
fragrant oil that gives out the scent ; 
and it is by breaking them, that rub- 
bing the leaves between the fingers, 
makes them smell stronger. 

Arum. — Aroidece A genus of 

perennials, chiefly natives of warm 
climates, and of which a few species 
are hardy in British gardens. Of 
these, A. dracunculus, the dragon- 
arum, deserves a place in the flower- 
garden, for its large very remarkable 
flowers. The large and splendid plant, 
with arrow-shaped leaves and white 
flowers, commonly called the arum, 
belongs to a different genus, and was 
first called by botanists Calla, and 
afterwards Richardia cethibpica. It 
is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, 
and St. Helena, where it grows in 



rich soil by the side of rivers. In 
England, it will not bear the winter 
in the open air, unless well protected 
and kept dry ; and it is generally 
grown in pots. It is increased by 
offsets, which form on its thick fleshy 
roots in August or September. These 
should be potted in small pots, in soil 
composed of three parts of sandy loam, 
and one of leaf mould, or thoroughly 
rotten manure. The pots should be 
well drained, and the plants fre- 
quently watered, while they are in a 
growing state. About May or June, 
the leaves will begin to wither at their 
points ; and when this is perceived, 
the supply of water should be lessened, 
till at last only enough is given just 
to keep the plant alive. During the 
time the leaves are dying off, the 
plant should have abundance of light ; 
but when they are all withered, the 
plant should be removed to any shed 
or other place where it may enjoy 
complete repose for about a month. 
In October or November it should be 
repotted, and supplied with abundance 
of water, particularly if kept in a sit- 
ting-room, where there is a daily fire. 
It should indeed always stand in a 
saucer full of water (changing the 
water every day), as the plant will 
not flow r er if once suffered to become 
too dry while in a growing state ; and 
as it has the extraordinary power of 
discharging the superabundant water 
from the points of its leaves, in drops. 
This quality renders it also suitable 
for culture as an aquatic plant; and 
thus treated, it will live in the open 
air all winter, and when the leaves 
die down, the water will keep the 
root from frost. The roots must be 
planted in the mud at the bottom of 
the pond, and a part should be chosen 
where the water is not more than 
three feet deep. This must be at- 
tended to ; because, as the plant will 
not expand its flowers till its leaves 
rise above the surface, the stem would 



ASPHODELTJS. 



21 



ASTRAGALUS. 



become weakened by being more 
elongated. Tbe plant generally 
flowers in March or -April ; but by 
prolonging its season of repose, it may 
be made to flower in May or June. 

Arundo. — Graminece. — A.Ddnax, 
is a splendid bamboo-looking reed, 
growing, in rich soil kept moist, to 
the height of ten or twelve feet in the 
climate of London in one year ; and 
producing a fine oriental appearance 
when standing singly on a lawn, or 
near water. There is a very beauti- 
ful variety with variegated leaves. 
The species is a native of Italy, and it 
is often used instead of bamboo for 
chairs, canes, &c. 

Ascle x pias. — Asclepiddeae. — 
Swallow-wort. North American her- 
baceous plants, for the greater part 
hardy in British gardens. The most 
ornamental species is A. tuberosa, 
which has line orange-coloured flowers, 
and is somewhat difficult to cultivate. 
It thrives however in sandy peat, kept 
rather dry than otherwise, and seldom 
disturbed by removal ; and it is 
increased by division. A. amoena 
has purple flowers, and thrives in a 
mixture of peat and loam. The 
finest hothouse species is a A. curra- 
savica, which has scarlet flowers, and 
grows best in rich mould ; and which 
is readily increased by cuttings, or by 
seeds, which it produces in abun- 
dance. 

.Ash Barberry. — See Mahonia. 

Aspe'rula Rubiacece. — Wood- 
ruff. Hardy herbaceous plants, of 
which one species, A. odorata, the 
common woodruff, deserves culture 
for its sweet-scented white flowers, 
which, with the dried plant, have the 
scent of hay. It is well adapted for 
growing in pots, and for rockwork on 
a large scale ; but as it increases ra- 
pidly by its creeping roots, it is by 
no means desirable for small rock- 
work. 

Aspho'delus. — AsphodelecE. — 



Ring's-spear, or king's- rod. Orna- 
mental herbaceous plants, mostly 
quite hardy, of which A. albus, and 
A. luteus, are the most ornamental 
species. They are coarse-growing 
plants, and increase rapidly by suckera 
in any common soil. 

Aster. — Composifce. — The Mi- 
chaelmas Daisy. Hardy herbaceous 
plants, mostly perennials. There are 
also a few Cape and New Holland 
shrubs. The herbaceous species are 
of great value, from their flowering 
late in autumn, and from their requir- 
ing very little care or labour in their 
culture. They grow in any soil, or 
situation, and spread rapidly by throw- 
ing up suckers, and sending out root 
stems. Among the handsomest per- 
ennial species are A. alpinus, A. 
ericoides, the common Michaelmas 
daisy. The China aster has been se- 
parated by botanists from the genus 
Aster ; it was first placed in the genus 
Callistema, but it and its varieties, the 
German asters, &c, now form the 
new genus Callistephus, under which 
the culture of the plant is given. 
Aster tenellus is thus the only an- 
nual species left in the old genus, 
and it is a pretty little hardy plant ; 
which may be sown in the open 
ground in March or April. Among the 
greenhouse species of Aster, A. ar- 
gophyllus, sometimes called the 
musk-plant, is remarkable for its 
white leaves and strong scent ; and 
A. furticulosus has pretty blue 
flowers. These two last species are 
grown in sandy peat, or a mixture of 
loam and peat, and are readily propa- 
gated. 

Astra'galus. — Leguminosce. — 
The Milk Vetch. Vigorous-growing 
pea-flowered plants, of which several 
deserve culture, on account of their 
flowers. They grow in any common 
soil with a dry bottom, and are rea- 
dily increased by seeds, or by divi- 
sion. 



AUCUBA. 



22 



AZALEA. 



Atamasco Lily. — See Zephyran- 

THES. 

Atrage W. — RanunculacecB. — 
This genus is nearly allied to Cle- 
matis. The species are suffruticose 
climbers, much admired for the beauty 
of their flowers, and very suitable for 
training against walls, or trellis-work, 
or for covering bowers. They all 
grow freely in any common garden 
soil, and they are readily increased by 
layers, or by cuttings of the growing 
wood planted in sand under a hand- 
glass. They also frequently ripen 
seeds which ought to be sown imme- 
diately, in which case they Avill come 
up the following spring ; otherwise if 
kept some months before sowing, they 
will probably lie in the ground a year ; 
all the species are beautiful, but A. 
austriaca, with blue flowers, and A. 
sibirica, with white flowers, are the 
most ornamental. 

Aubrietia. — Cruciferce. — A 
genus of pretty little plants, generally 
with purple flowers, not above three 
inches high, which flower in March, 
and are admirably adapted for pots, or 
miniature rockwork. They grow in 
any common soil, and are readily pro- 
pagated by division. A. deltoidea, 
and A. purpurea, are the most 
desirable species. 

Aucuba. — Loranthacece, or Cor- 
nacecB. — A hardy evergreen shrub, 
which, though a native of Japan, en- 
dures the severest winters in the cli- 
mate of London. It is common in 
every garden, and it is often called 
the Japan, or spotted laurel. The 
leaves are leathery, and variegated ; 
and the bark of the shoots is of a deep 
pea-green. It will grow in any soil, 
either in an open situation, or under 
the drip of trees ; and it forms a 
compact bush, which never requires 
pruning. It is propagated by cuttings 
or layers. The Acuba in British 
gardens is supposed to be only the 
female plant, as though it has 



been introduced above fifty years, it 
has never ripened seeds, though it 
flowers every spring ; and the species, 
of which our variegated plant is evi- 
dently only a variety, has never been 
introduced. Botanists also appear to 
have been much puzzled to know 
where to place it ; as it was first con- 
sidered to belong to Rhamnacese, with 
the buckthorns, then to Loranthacese, 
with the miseltoe ; and now to Cor- 
naceae, with the dogwoods. 

Auricula. See Primula. 

Australian Shrubs have nearly all 
a strong tap root, which sends out 
very fiue fibres; they all require a 
sandy loam, or peat, mixed with de- 
cayed leaves ; and they should all be 
frequently watered, but the water 
never suffered to remain in a stagnant 
state round their roots. They are all 
easily killed by an excess of either 
stagnant moisture, or drought, as in 
the latter case the slender fibres of 
the roots wither, and are seldom, if 
ever, renewed ; and the seeds of nearly 
all of them are very long before they 
vegetate, unless steeped for at least 
twenty-four hours in water, which 
should be hot when poured on them. 
All the Australian shrubs and trees 
are very tenacious of life ; and when 
apparently killed, they will generally, 
if cut down, spring again from the 
root. 

Azalea, L. — Ericacece. — Beauti- 
ful shrubs, natives of North America, 
and India ; the former growing freely 
in the open air, but the latter requir- 
ing the protection of a greenhouse. 
They should be grown in peat earth, 
heath mould, or very sandy loam ; 
and provided the ground they grow 
in is well drained, and they are never 
allowed to become too dry, they will 
thrive in almost any situation, though 
they prefer the shade ; they may be 
transplanted at almost any age, or 
season, even when in flower, provided 
a ball of earth be kept round their 



BALCONY GARDEN. 



23 



BALSAMINA. 



roots ; and as they hybridize freely, 
and ripen seed abundantly, innumer- 
able varieties may be raised. They 
also bear both forcing and retarding 
extremely well. Several attempts 
have been made to naturalise them in 
this country ; particularly at High 
Clerc, near Newbury, the seat of Lord 
Carnarvon. The kinds called the 
Ghent Azaleas, are hybrids aud va- 



rieties raised in Belgium. Professor 
Don and some other botanists consi- 
der nearly all the Azaleas to belong 
to the Rhododendrons, and they have 
left only one miserable little trailing 
plant, a native of Scotland, Azalea 
procumbens, in the once splendid 
genus Azalea of Linnaeus. 

Azarole tree. — See Crataegus. 

Azederach. — See Melia. 



B. 



Babiana. — Iridacece. — A genus 
of Cape plants, with solid bulbs or 
corms, which are eaten by the Hot- 
tentots ; and which, when roasted, 
are said to resemble chestnuts. The 
species have all showy flowers. For 
their culture see Bulbs. 

Baeria. — Composites. — A hardy 
annual, with yellow flowers. 

Balcony Garden. — The most suit- 
able plants for balconies are those of 
low growth ; and as, from their ex- 
posed situation, they are liable to 
great and sudden changes, with re- 
gard to temperature, winds, and 
moisture, they ought to be naturally 
tolerably hardy. To prevent the soil 
in the pots from becoming over dried, 
from the pot being constantly exposed 
to the wind, one pot ought to be 
placed within another, with a little 
sand or moss between, and this sand 
or moss ought to be kept constantly 
moist. The pots may be set in 
saucers, provided a little gravel be 
placed in the bottom of each saucer, 
so as to allow the free escape of water 
from the hole in the bottom of the 
pot ; for if this water stagnates in the 
pot, it soon swells the soil so as to 
close up the hole in the bottom, and 
to prevent the free escape of water ; 
in which case the soil in the pot is 
sure to become sodden. When there 
is no gravel in the saucers, the plants 
Bhould be well and frequently wa- 
tered ; but the water that runs 



through the earth in the pot into the 
saucers, should be poured out imme- 
diately and thrown away. A very 
good mode of growing plants in bal- 
conies is, to set the pots in wooden 
boxes or troughs, painted stone co- 
lour, with a little gravel at the bot- 
tom, for the pots to stand on, and 
with the interstices filled in with 
moss, which may also cover the rims 
and surface of the pots. Mignonette 
and trailing plants are best grown 
entirely in wooden boxes, without the 
intervention of pots. 

Ba'cch aris . — Co mpositce. —Plough- 
man's Spikenard. Shrubs generally 
with white flowers, and natives of 
America, growing in any common 
garden soil. 

Balm. See Dracoce'phalum. 

Balsam. See Balsamina. 

Balsamina. — BalsaminacecB. — 
Tender and half hardy annuals, with 
splendid flowers, mostly natives of the 
East Indies. The common balsam 
( B. hortensis) is a well-known green- 
house plant of great beauty. To grow 
it in perfection, the seeds should be 
sown on a hot-bed, and when the 
plants come up they should be trans- 
planted into very small pots, which 
should be plunged into the hot-bed, 
and well supplied with water. In 
about a week, the plants should be 
transferred to larger pots ; and this 
operation should be repeated ten or 
twelve times, always removing the 



BAMBUSA. 



24 



BARK. 



plants to pots only a little larger than 
those they were taken from. As soon 
as the flower buds begin to form, the 
plants should not be shifted anymore, 
and the pots which contain them must 
no longer be placed in the hot-bed, 
but the plants must be gradually ex- 
posed to the open air. Many gar- 
deners never plunge the pots after the 
plants are three or four inches high, 
and remove them from the hot-bed to 
the green-house as soon as possible. 
Repeated shif tings are, however, es- 
sential to produce fine large flowers 
and handsome plants. As balsams, 
from their succulent nature, require a 
great deal of moisture, the saucers in 
which the pots stand may be kept 
constantly full of water ; but this 
water should be changed every day. 
Balsams generally ripen seeds, even 
from the double flowers, and thus nu- 
merous varieties are raised. The 
seeds should, however, be used as 
fresh as possible ; as it is found that 
when the seeds of the balsam are kept 
for more than a year, the plants pro- 
duced by them are smaller, and all 
their flowers inferior, both in size and 
colour. The more choice varieties 
may be preserved by cuttings, which 
root readily in sand kept moist be- 
low, but dry at top, and covered with 
a bell-glass. The seed-pods of Bal- 
samina, and those of Impaliens, or 
Touch-me-not, open with a jerk when 
touched, so as to throw the seeds to a 
distance. 

Bamboo. — See Bambusa. 
Bambusa. — GraminecB. — A rapid 
growing stove-plant, which has a no- 
ble appearance where there is abund- 
ance of room. There are some spe- 
cies so hardy as to stand the open air 
in the island of Jersey ; and one of 
these, B. nigra, will thrive in a 
green-house, or against a conservatory 
wall, in the climate of London. The 
Bamboos should be grown in loamy 
soil, and they are increased by offsets. 



Banana. — See Musa. 
Baneberry. — See Act<ea. 
Banksi a . — Proteacece. — Evergreen 
New Holland shrubs, some of which 
have showy flowers, but which are 
generally more remarkable for the 
beauty of their leaves, which are cu- 
riously notched and cut. All the 
species grow well in a mixture of 
sandy peat and loam, with the pots 
well drained ; and cuttings of the 
young wood root with some difficulty 
in sand under a bell-glass, in a very 
slight bottom heat. 

Banyan Tree. — See Ficus. 

Baptisia. — LeguminoscB. — Her- 
baceous pea-flowered plants, from 
North America, of vigorous growth 
and of rather elegant appearance, of 
which one species, B. australis, well 
deserves a place in collections. They 
may be grown in the open air in com- 
mon soil, and may be propagated by 
division of the root. 

Barbadoes Cherry. — See Mal- 
pighia. 

Barbadoes Gooseberry. — See Pe- 

RESKIA. 

Barb a Jovis. — A species of An- 
thyllis. 

Barbarea. — Cruciferce. — Peren- 
nial plants, of which one species, B. 
vulgaris Jibre-pleno, the double yel- 
low rocket, is of easy culture and pro- 
pagation, either by cuttings or divi- 
sion of the root, in common soil. 

Barbery. See Berberis. 

Bark. — The refuse bark which has 
been used for tanning leather, and 
which produces considerable heat by 
its fermentation. When obtained from 
the tannery it is generally soaked in 
water, and then spread out in an open 
shed, and turned over several times ; 
after this, it is laid in a ridge or heap, 
and when it has begun to heat, it is 
again turned over once or twice, when 
it is fit to be put into the bark-bed. 
In this bed or pit it continues to fer- 
ment, and gives out heat for several 



BARK. 



25 



BAUHINIA. 



months ; and when the heat begins to 
decline, fresh bark is added from the 
reserve stock in the shed. The bark- 
bed may be of any dimensions in re- 
gard of length and width, but it should 
seldom be more than two feet in depth, 
to prevent an excess of beat. The 
plants in pots are generally plunged 
in it, at first to half the depth of the 
pot, and afterwards to the rim. Sub- 
stitutes for bark are stable dung, 
leaves of trees, chaff, and any other 
vegetable or animal substances which 
ferment in decaying; and in large 
towns the sweepings of streets may be 
used, as these, in some of the London 
gardens, are found to produce a steady 
and durable beat in hot-beds and pits, 
during the summer months. The 
best substitute for the peculiar heat of 
the bark is, however, a mass of stones 
heated by steam, or a mass of soil, 
or sand, heated by pipes of hot water. 

Bark, or Moist Stove. — A plant 
structure with a glass roof, and a bed 
or pit in its centre, containing a mass 
of fermenting matter, or of earth or 
sand, heated by artificial means, in 
which plants in pots are to be plunged. 
The plants grown in such houses 
being natives of the warmest parts of 
tropical countries, the temperature in 
a bark-stove should never be lower 
than 60°, and during summer it may 
rise as high as 80 or 90°. In general, 
the heat ougbt to be greatest in the 
day-time, and during bright sunshine, 
and least during night, throughout the 
year. To supply the air in the house 
with sufficient moisture, the floors of 
the passages should be frequently 
watered ; and to facilitate the same 
object, and to subdue insects, the 
plants should be syringed or watered 
over head, most days in the year, and 
especially in the summer season, about 
3 o'clock in tbe afternoon. After 
this watering the house should be 
shut up for the night; excepting when 
the weather is very warm, when some 



air may be given by opening the 
sashes at 8 or 9 o'clock at night, and 
leaving them open till the following 
morning, at 6 or 7. Independently of 
the bark-bed, the air of the moist stove 
requires to be heated by pipes of hot 
water or steam, or by smoke-flues ; 
the first mode being found by expe- 
rience to be best. 

Barrow. See Wheel- barrow and 
Hand barrow. 

Bartonia.-- Loasacece. — B. aurea 
is a new and splendid annual, with 
golden yellow flowers, which have 
quite a metallic lustre when the sun 
shines upon them. The seed-pod 
is curiously twisted. Like all the Ca- 
lifornian annuals, it is very apt to die 
off if the roots become at all withered 
by drought, or if the collar of tbe 
plant be exposed to the full heat of 
the sun ; and it thus does best when 
grown in masses, so that the ground 
may be quite covered with its leaves. 

B. albescens has greenish white 
flowers, and is not worth growing. 
(See Annuals.) 

Bast, or Bass. — The inner bark of 
the lime-tree, separated by steeping 
the bark in water till it can be rea- 
dily pulled asunder into ribands or 
strands ; these are hung up for some 
months in the shade, and they are 
then woven into mats. The manu- 
facture of these mats is confined to 
Russia and some parts of Sweden, 
where the name for bark is bast. 

Bastard Acacia. — See Robinia. 

Bay Tree. — See Laurus. 

Bastard Saffron . - SccCarthamus. 

Batatas. — The sweet potato; a 
kind of Convolvulus, the root of 
which is eaten. 

Bauhinia.— Leguminosce. — Moun- 
tain Ebony. Stove shrubs, mostly 
with white flowers, and remarkable 
for their leaves always being produced 
in twins, on which account the genus 
was named in compliment to J. and 

C. Bauhin, both eminent botanists. 



BEDS FOR FLOWERS. 



26 



BEGONIA. 



Bead Tree. — See IMelia. 

Beaufortia. — Myrtacem. — Splen- 
did New Holland shrubs with scarlet 
and red flowers, free -growers and 
abundant-flowerers, and well adapted 
either for planting out in a conserva- 
tory, or growing in pots. The best 
soil is sandy loam and peat, well 
drained ; and cuttings, taken off with 
a small portion of half-ripened wood, 
root freely in sand under a bell-glass. 
B. decussata, which produces its 
scarlet flowers from May to July, is 
one of the handsomest species. 

Beaumontia, Wal. — Apocynece. 
— Climbing shrubs from the East 
Indies, of elegant foliage and large 
white flowers, of easy culture in the 
stove, and propagated by cuttings 
either of the stem or roots. The best 
soil is sandy loam, mixed with rotten 
dung or leaf mould. By proper ma- 
nagement they may be made to flower 
in the open air. See Allamanda. 

Beds for Flowers commonly form 
part of an assemblage of beds, which 
constitute what is called a flower- 
garden, and sometimes, though impro- 
perly, a Parterre. (See Flower 
Garden.) Flowers are planted or 
sown in beds, either with a view of 
covering the bed with one entire mass 
of foliage and flowers, or of distribut- 
ing single plants, or small tufts of 
plants and flowers, over it at regular 
distances, with naked spaces show- 
ing the soil between. The plants 
most suitable for completely covering 
the bed are trailers and creepers ; and 
those for standing singly at regular 
distances are erect plants, which have 
their flowers in terminal spikes, co- 
rymbs, or umbels, or compact-growing 
plants, which make neat little bushes. 
All other herbaceous flowers, such as 
the tall-growing Salvias, Sunflowers, 
Persicarias, Dahlias, Hollyhocks, &c. 
are better grown in the borders, in 
rows, or in small groups in a border, 
or on a lawn. When a bed is to be 



entirely covered with flowers, the 
stems often require to be pegged down 
with hooked sticks, so as to cover 
every part of the bed equally ; and in 
wet seasons, when the plants are apt 
to run too much to leaves, the lower 
extremities of the shoots ought to be 
slightly bruised, so as to check their 
growth by lessening the rapidity of 
the return of the sap. The larger 
roots may also be cut for the same 
purpose, and in some cases the effect 
of a check will be given by watering 
once or twice with salt and water. 
In situations where the bottom is na- 
turally moist, the whole flower-gar- 
den ought to be effectually drained, 
and those beds which are intended to 
be wholly covered with trailing plants, 
ought to have a comparatively thin 
stratum of soil. On the other hand, 
those beds which are intended for tall, 
vigorous growing plants, ought to have 
a deep substantial soil. It may be 
laid down as a general principle, that 
the manager of a flower-garden may 
add greatly to its beauty in a dry 
season by the judicious supply of 
water, which ought to be given in the 
evenings ; and in a wet season by 
withholding water, thinning out the 
leaves and branches, and checking 
over luxuriant growth by bruising the 
branches at their junction with the 
stem, or bruising the roots in the case 
of trailing plants and creepers, and 
cutting through some of the principal 
roots, six oreight inches under ground, 
in the case of the more vigorous-grow- 
ing plants. 

Begonia. — Begoniacece. — Tropi- 
cal under-shrubs or herbaceous plants, 
some of which require the stove and 
others the greenhouse. The flowers 
are showy, mostly pink and white, 
and the leaves are succulent, mostly 
oblique at the base, and red under- 
neath. On the whole, the plants are 
highly ornamental, and they are of 
the easiest culture and propagation in 



BELLIS. 



27 



BERBERIS. 



light rich soil. One of the finest spe- 
cimens is B. octopetala, winch has 
tuberous roots, but it is rather rare. 
B. discolor, which has the leaves 
beautifully veined with crimson un- 
derneath, is the commonest species, 
and it thrives in the greenhouse, 
and does remarkably well in rooms, 
throwing out numerous suckers, each 
with a small tuberous root, which 
only requires separating from the pa- 
rent and potting, to become a fresh 
plant. The only objection to its 
culture is, that it is very apt to be 
infested with the red spider (see 
Acarus). When planted out in the 
summer season, it continues to pro- 
duce flowers for several months. In-, 
deed, all the tuberous-rooted species 
of this genus, if planted rather deep 
in a dry sandy border exposed to the 
south, and having the soil covered with 
a little rotten tan, dung, leaves, or with 
litter during the winter season, will 
come up and flower freely every year; 
as the tuberous-rooted species of Bego- 
nia are scarcely more tender than the 
tuberous-rooted species of Solanum, or 
than the Dahlia. All the kinds of Be- 
gonia being at once beautiful, singu- 
lar, of the easiest culture and propa- 
gation, and producing flowers wher- 
ever there are leaves ; it is one of the 
best families of plants for an amateur 
to commence his exotic culture and 
experiments. 

Belladonna. — One of the names 
for Atropa belladonna, the deadly- 
nightshade. 

Belladonna Lily. — See Ama- 
ryllis. 

Bell Flower. — See Campanula. 

Bell Glass. — A glass cylinder, 
with a globular top, used for covering 
tender cuttings or seedlings. It dif- 
fers from a hand-glass in being all in 
one piece ; whereas a hand-glass con- 
sists of several pieces fixed in a frame 
of lead, wood, or iron. 

Bellis. — Composites. — The Daisy. 



Well-known perennials, of which B. 
perennis, the common daisy, has 
been in cultivation in British and con- 
tinental gardens from time immemo- 
rial. The most beautiful varieties are 
the large double, the large quilled, and 
the hen and chickens. They are all 
admirable plants for making edgings to 
borders, and they are well suited for 
growing in pots, though at present 
they are almost neglected. They 
thrive best in loamy soil, and bear 
transplanting even when in flower, 
provided they are taken up with a 
portion of soil attached. No plants 
are better adapted for covering a bed 
with one mass of colour. Masses of 
any of the kinds of daisies may be 
brought from the reserve ground and 
laid down on a bed in the flower- 
garden, when just coming into flower, 
and taken back again to make room 
for other plants, when they have gone 
out of flower. 

Bellows for Fumigation. — A ma- 
chine composed of the common bellows, 
or patent blower, used for blowing fires, 
with the addition of a tube or vessel 
for containing tobacco, pierced with 
holes. The tobacco is placed in this 
vessel, and being lighted, the air is 
blown through it, which forces out the 
smoke so as to fill the pit, frame, or 
house which contains the plant or 
plants which are to be fumigated for 
the destruction of insects. 

Belvidere, or Summer Cypress. — 
See Kochia. 

Benthamia. — CornacecB. — A very 
handsome evergreen shrub, with large 
white showy flowers, which are suc- 
ceeded by scarlet fruit having the ap- 
pearance of a large strawberry. It is 
somewhat tender, and north of Lon- 
don requires a wall. It thrives best 
in loam, and may be propagated by 
layers, cuttings, or seeds, which it 
produces in abundance. 

Berberis. — Berberidece — The 
Berberry. Deciduous shrubs, natives 



BIENNIALS. 



28 



BILLARDIEBA. 



of Europe, North America and Nepal, 
several of the species of which are very 
ornamental for their flowers, and also 
for their fruit. B. vulgaris, the 
common Berberry, is a most elegant 
plant when trained to a single stem, 
and then allowed to expand its head 
freely on every side: so treated the 
branches become drooping, and have a 
fine effect every spring, when they are 
covered with their rich yellow blos- 
soms ; and in autumn, from their 
long red fruit, which at a distance 
might be mistaken for the flowers of 
a scarlet Fuchsia. B. aristhta, with 
splendid bright yellow flowers, is 
a robust species, with purplish fruit. 
B. asiatica, is less robust, but also a 
very free flowerer. All the species are 
quite hardy, thriving in any common 
soil, and easily propagated by ripened 
cuttings, layers, suckers, or seeds. 
(See Mahonia.) 

Berberry. — See Berberis. 
Bergamote. — A kind of mint. 
See Mentha. 

Beto'nica. — Labiates. — Betony. 
Herbaceous plants, natives of Europe, 
of which one species, B. incana, H. K., 
is very ornamental, and particularly 
adapted for rock- work or pot culture ; 
or for covering the entire surface of 
a bed in a flower-garden. The flowers 
are flesh-coloured, in spikes, and the 
whole plant does not exceed 6 inches 
in height. Common soil and suckers. 

Bidens. — Composifoe. — The Bur 
Marigold. Annual and perennial 
plants, principally natives of England 
and North America, of which B. 
grandiflora, with fragrant yellow 
flowers, and B. striata with white 
flowers, are perhaps the most orna- 
mental. They are both hardy an- 
nuals, which only require sowing in 
the open ground in April. 

Biennials. — Plants that do not 
produce their flowers till the second 
year, and then die after they have 
ripened their seeds. The Brompton 



stocks, hollyhocks, Avallflowers, snap- 
dragons, and Canterbury bells, are 
biennials, though the latter four fre- 
quently live three or four years. 
Biennials should be sown in March 
or April, thinned out in May, and 
transplanted in September to the 
place w here they are to flower the en- 
suing year. A little earth should be 
taken up with the roots, when they 
are transplanted, and they should be 
well watered, and shaded for a day 
or two, till their roots are established. 
Those kinds which require a peculiar 
soil, should have pits prepared for 
them about a week before they are 
transplanted, that the earth may have 
time to settle. 

Bignonia. — Bignoniacece. — The 
Bignonias or trumpet-flowers once 
formed a very large and splendid 
genus, chiefly of climbers from tro- 
pical countries, and remarkable for 
their large, brilliant-coloured flowers. 
Many of the species have, however, 
been now removed to the genera 
Tecoma and Spathodea. Most of 
the plants which are still called Big- 
nonia require the hothouse, but some 
will thrive in the greenhouse, and one, 
B. capreolata, is hardy. B. venusta 
is one of the handsomest hothouse 
species, and when plauted in the free 
soil, it will produce its pale orange 
flowers during the greater part of the 
summer. They are all of easy culture, 
requiring chiefly abundance of room, 
and cuttings of them all root readily 
in sand. (See Tecoma.) 

Bilberry. See Vaccinum. 

Bill, or Handbill. — A curved 
blade fixed in a wooden handle ; if 
short, it is called a hand-bill, and if 
long, a hedge or pruning bill, and it is 
used for cutting hedges, or pruning off 
the branches of trees. (See Hedgebill.) 

Billardiera — Pittosporea. — 
Appleberry. Climbing half hardy 
shrubs, natives of Australia, with bell- 
shaped flowers, and long berry -like 



BITTER-VETCH. 



29 



BLITUM. 



fruit which tastes like roasted apples. 
The beautiful plant now called Sollya, 
was at first supposed to belong to this 
genus. They should be grown in sandy 

peat (See Australian Shrubs.) 

Bindweed. — The common Bind- 
weed ( Convolvulus sepium L., Ca- 
lystegia sepium R. B.) with large 
white flowers, and not unfrequent 
in hedges, is one of the most orna- 
mental of the indigenous twiners ; but 
in gardens it has this disadvantage, 
that its roots, or rather underground 
shoots, spread rapidly and are very 
difficult to eradicate. 

Birds are generally considered 
enemies of gardens, and some kinds, 
as the common sparrow (when seeds, 
which are their usual food, are scarce,) 
are apt to live upon buds, especially 
blossom-buds, as being the largest ; 
and others live upon fruits. As, 
however, all the soft-billed kinds, 
which constitute the great majority 
of singing birds found in our gardens, 
live upon insects, especially the 
aphides and the caterpillars or grubs 
of moths, flies, and beetles, they are 
rather to be considered as advan- 
tageous to gardens than otherwise. 

Bird Cherry. — Cerasus Padus. 
— (See Cerasus.) 

Bird's-eye, the Primula farinosa, 
a very neat little plant, cultivated in 
peat soil and kept moist. 

Bird's-foot. — (See Ornithopus.) 

Bird's-foot Trefoil. — (See 
Lotus.) 

Birthwort. — (See Aristolochia . ) 

Biscutella. — CrucifercB. — Buck- 
ler Mustard. Hardy annuals with 
yellow flowers, natives of Europe, 
which only require sowing in the 
open border in March or April. 

Bitter-sweet. — Solatium Dulc- 
amara. — An indigenous suffrutescent 
climbing shrub, with pretty flowers 
and red berries, common in hedges. 

Bitter- vetch. — See Orobus. 



Blackberry. — The common name 
of the bramble. — (See Rubus.) 

Black Bryony. — (See Tamus.) 

Bladder Ketmia. — Hibiscus Tri- 
onum and Africanus. — Hardy an- 
nuals, natives of Italy and Barbary. 
The seeds should be sown in March 
or April. — (See Annuals.) 

Bladder Nut. — (See Staphylea.) 

Bladder Senna. — (See Colutea.) 

Blandfordia. — Hemerocalli- 
dece. — Showy plants with scarlet 
and green tube-like flowers ; natives 
of New South Wales, of which JS. 
nobilis, and B. grandiflora, well 
deserve culture. Both species should 
be grown in sandy loam and peat ; 
and they are increased by seeds, or 
suckers. 

Blast.- — A popular and vague term 
applied to plants which have been 
suddenly blighted by the effect of un- 
propitious weather, or some other 
circumstance so as to check or destroy 
the growth of the flowers, or seeds. 

Blessed Thistle. — See Cen- 
taurea. 

Bletia. — Orchidacea?. — Showy 
plants, natives of the tropics, and re- 
quiring stove heat in Britain. They 
should be grown in sandy loam and 
peat ; and they are propagated by 
division of the roots. 

Blight. — A popular term for the 
sudden injuries which plants receive, 
apparently from the weather, but in 
reality from the attacks of insects, or 
the growth of parasitic fungi. In ge- 
neral, whenever the progress of plants 
is suddenly arrested by some cause 
not understood, it is attributed to 
blight. Blight differs from mildew, 
which is always a fungus, in the latter 
exhibiting a white, bluish, or mouldy 
appearance. 

Blitum. — Chenopodiacece. — An- 
nuals of the easiest culture, of no beauty 
with respect to the flowers, but re- 
markable for the showy appearance 



BORDER. 



30 



BORDER. 



of their spikes of succulent scarlet fruit. 
The English names of the species are 
strawberry blight and spinach blight. 

Blood-flower. — See Hemanthus. 

Blumenbachia. — Loasacece. — 
Dwarf annuals, with pretty white 
flowers, and very curiously twisted 
seed-pods ; which only require sowing 
in the open border in April. There 
is, however, one drawback to their 
general cultivation, which is, that they 
sting as badly as a nettle. 

Bluebottle. — See Centaurea. 

Bluets. — See Centaurea. 

Bog earth. — See Peat and Heath 
Mould. 

Bona Nox — See Ipomjea. 

Bonapartea See Lytt^ea. 

Borage. — See Borago. 

Borago. — Boraginece. — Annual 
and perennial plants with blue, white, 
or pink flowers. Natives of the 
South of Europe and Persia ; of easy 
culture in any common soil. 

Border. — A border differs from a 
bed in having a walk only on one 
side ; and an ornamental border, in 
which flowers or shrubs, or both, are 
grown, ought to have the plants so 
arranged in regard to height and dis- 
tance, as to have them seen to the 
greatest advantage from the walk. 
For this purpose the lowest-growing 
plants should be placed in front, and 
the highest kinds behind them, and 
the distance between the different 
plants should be proportioned to their 
breadth, not to their height ; because 
a very tall-growing plant, such as the 
common lily, is sometimes a very 
narrow one, and a low bushy plant, 
such as the peony, is sometimes three 
times as broad as it is high. Hence, 
in a border which is to be composed I 
of a great variety of flowers, the 
plants cannot be placed in rows, or at 
regular distances ; but a space must 
be apportioned to each plant according 
to its width keeping in view the ne- 



cessity of always leaving a clear space 
of a few inches, round every plant 
whether large or small. The spaces 
round the large plants, say those 
which are from one to three feet in 
diameter, ought not to be less than 
six inches or nine inches on every 
side ; while those round the small 
plants, under six inches in diameter, 
need not be more than three inches. 
It is much better to have the spaces 
too wide than too narrow ; for in the 
latter case, an appearance of confusion 
is produced ; while in the former 
order and proportion appear to reign 
through the whole. The same ge- 
neral principles and proportions will 
apply in the case of a border composed 
wholly of shrubs. (See Shrubbery.) 
With regard to the mode of arrang- 
ing herbaceous plants in borders with 
reference to the colour of their flowers 
and time of flowering, the object ought 
to be to have an equal number of 
plants in flower in each of the floral 
months ; and among the plants of 
each month to have as nearly as pos- 
sible an equal number of each of the 
principal colours. This is the beau 
ideal that the cultivator should keep 
in view ; but it is not easy to carry 
it out into practice without the assist- 
ance of a reserve garden, and a number 
of plants in pots, that can be brought 
out when in flower on the shortest 
notice, and substituted for any plant 
which perhaps has not come into 
flower sufficiently soon, or which has 
not produced a proportionate quantity 
of flowers. In actual practice in 
this case, as in many others, where 
strict rules are laid down to act upon, 
the object is endeavoured to be ob- 
tained by what gardeners call trial 
and correction, and the consequence 
commonly is, that it is never at- 
tained effectually. To explain this, 
we may suppose a gardener about 
to plant a border of flowers which 



BORDER FLOWERS. 



31 



BOTANIC GARDEN. 



is to contain five hundred plants. 
He first collects five hundred kinds of 
as many colours as he can, and out 
of these he selects those of one colour, 
say blue, and distributes thern equally 
over the border, guessing at the height 
the plants may attain, and placing 
them in the front, back or middle ac- 
cordingly. He does the same with 
all the other colours, and next sum- 
mer, when the plants are in flower, he 
shifts them about ; taking them up 
with balls, so as to avoid having two 
of the same colour coming into blossom 
in the same month near together. A 
tolerably good effect may be produced 
in this manner by a careful, active, 
and intelligent gardener ; but it will 
require incessant attentionand labour ; 
and after all the result will be very infe- 
rior to what it would have been had the 
subject been regularly studied, and a 
plan of the border made for every 
floral month, say from April to No- 
vember inclusive, a circle representing 
each flower and being coloured ac- 
cordingly. There are very few 
borders in England that have been 
planted with this degree of care, be- 
cause the prevailing fault of the em- 
ployers of British gardeners is, a desire 
for quantity as indicating power, rather 
than of quality as indicating taste. 
The amateur who has a small garden, 
and is anxious to make the most of it, 
may, if he will take the trouble to 
select the very finest flowers, and to 
arrange them according to their sizes, 
colours, and time of flowering, pro- 
duce an effect which he wilj not see 
in the garden of any professed gar- 
dener that we know of. 

Border Flowers. — Herbaceous 
plants of hardy constitution ; showy in 
appearance, and of easy culture, and 
therefore well adapted for ornamenting 
the borders which accompany walks 
in gardens. These are classed as per- 
ennials with fibrous roots, perennials 
with bulbous or tuberous roots, bien- 



nials, and hardy annuals. Among the 
the fibrous rooted perennials are some, 
such as certain species of saxifrage, 
pinks, carnations, &c, which are ever- 
green, and these are most desirable 
plants for the borders of winter gar- 
dens. There are also evergreen bi- 
ennials, such as wall-flowers, stock 
gilliflowers, &c. 

Boronia. — Rutacece. — Evergreen 
New Holland shrubs, which flower 
during the greater part of the sum- 
mer, and which are all very orna- 
mental. B. serrulata is a most 
desirable species, forming a neat com- 
pact plant for a room, or greenhouse, 
and requiring plenty of light and air, 
but very little heat. It, and all the 
other species, will grow freely in 
sandy peat, well drained, and they 
may be propagated by layers or cut- 
tings of the young wood in sand, un- 
der a bell-glass, taking care to wipe 
the glass frequently, so as to keep the 
cuttings free from damp. 

Bossi;ea. — Leguminosce. — Ever- 
green New Holland shrubs, which all 
thrive in a mixture of turfy loam, 
peat, and sand, well drained, and 
which may be propagated by cuttings 
of the young wood. 

Botanic Garden. — A garden de- 
voted to the culture of plants with a 
view to botanical science ; and in 
which the plants are arranged accord- 
ing to some system, only one of a 
kind is planted, and a name appended 
to each. The most convenient mode 
for study is to place the plants in 
straight rows of narrow beds, one row 
in a bed, with a narrow path between ; 
but the best mode for effect is to 
place them in groups of one order, 
tribe, or genus in a group. These 
groups have the best effect when of a 
circular form, and when placed on a 
lawn. The position of the groups 
relatively to each other should be 
such as to correspond with the bota- 
nical system followed. 



BRACHYSEMA. 



3: 



BROMPTON STOCKS. 



Bottom heat is the warmth im- 
parted to the roots of plants, by 
plunging the pots in which they grow 
into a hot-bed or bark-pit. The effect 
this produces in stimulating the plants 
is very great ; and it is particularly 
advantageous in striking cuttings, 
which, under ordinary circumstances, 
would not readily throw out roots. 
Bottom heat is often very useful in 
enabling hothouse plants to stand in 
the open air during summer. A bed 
may be formed of bark, decayed 
leaves, or stable manure, in which 
the pots may be plunged, and the 
surface covered with a thin coating of 
turf ; and in this manner all the hot- 
house climbers might be trained over 
the trellis- work of a veranda, and 
palms, bananas, and other tropical 
plants might be made to decorate an 
English garden. 

Bouvardia. — Rubiacece, — B. tri- 
phylla aud its varieties are very or- 
namental, with scarlet flowers and 
smooth shining leaves. It, and all 
the other species, grow freely in loam 
and peat in a warm situation ; and 
they are increased by cuttings of the 
roots. B. versicolor has fine red 
flowers and is very ornamental, though 
more tender than B. triphylla. 

Bowers. — Slight arbours, formed 
by training climbing shrubs over trellis 
work so as to form a covered seat. 
They only differ from arbours in 
being less closely covered. See Ar- 
bours. 

Box-tree. — See Buxus. 

Box-edgings. — The kind of box 
used for this purpose is Buxus super- 
virens nana. For its culture, see 
Buxus and Edgings. 

Brachyse v m a. — Leguminosece. — 
B. latifolium is a very ornamental 
New Holland climber, with fine large 
glaucous leaves and crimson flowers ; 
and it grows freely in loam and peat, 
flowering abundantly, aud ripening 



seeds, by which, or by layers, or cut- 
tings, it may be readily propagated. 

Bramble — See Rubus. 

Briza. — Graminece. — Quaking- 
grass. B. media, the common kind, 
is a perennial, and B. maxima, a 
gigantic species, is an annual, requir- 
ing only to be sown in March or April, 
in the open borders. 

Brompton Stocks. — Mathiola in- 
cana. — These splendid flowers are 
biennials, and their seed should be 
sown early in May, in a border of 
light sandy soil with an eastern expo- 
sure, and never in front of a hothouse 
or south wall, as they cannot bear too 
much heat. The seeds should be 
sown very thinly in narrow drills, 
made about six inches apart. As 
soon as the plants begin to grow, and 
have expanded their second pair of 
leaves, they should be watered every 
evening with a watering-pot or gar- 
den-engine, having a very fine rose. 
When the plants are about three 
inches high, they should be thinned 
out so as to be at least six inches 
apart, and the plants removed should 
be carefully replanted in another bed. 
In about a month's time they should 
be thinned again, the alternate rows 
taken up, so as to leave the remain- 
ing plants about a foot apart every 
way ; the plants removed being taken 
up with balls of earth and carefully 
transplanted, watered, and shaded till 
they have re-established themselves. 
Great care is necessary in transplant- 
ing, as the stocks have long tap. roots, 
with very few fibrils attached. When 
the plants are wanted to be very fine, 
they may be protected during winter 
by hoops and mats, or hand-glasses, 
but in general this is not thought ne- 
cessary. In March or April a com- 
post should be formed of very sandy 
loam or sand, enriched with the re- 
mains of an old hot-bed, or vegetable 
mould, formed of decayed leaves ; 



BUCK-EYE. 



33 



BUDDING. 



and pits about two feet deep and 
two feet in diameter dug in the 
flower-borders and filled with it, into 
which the stocks should be trans- 
planted, with as large balls of earth 
attached as can be taken up. They 
should be carefully shaded and watered 
till they have taken root ; and after- 
wards they should be watered every 
night till they come into flower. Thus 
treated, the spikes of flowers will 
sometimes be from eighteen inches to 
two feet long, and proportionably 
thick. 

Broom. — See Spartium and Ge- 
nista. 

Browa'llia. — ScrophuUrince, or 
Solanaceoe. — South American tender, 
annuals, generally with blue flowers, 
requiring to be raised on a hot-bed, 
and generally grown in pots. (See 
Annuals.) 

Brugma'nsia. — Solanece. — Peru- 
vian shrubs, or low succulent stemmed 
trees, of which B. suavebiens, (better 
known by the name of Datura ar- 
boreal) and B. sanguinece, are mag- 
nificent species. Being large plants, 
growing to the height of ten or twelve 
feet, they look best when planted 
in the ground, in a conservatory ; 
but they will grow well in large pots : 
or they may be planted in the open gar- 
den in the summer season, and taken 
up and preserved in a back shed from 
which the frost is excluded during 
winter, to be re- placed in the open 
border the following spring. The 
flowers are trumpet-shaped, one foot 
or more in length, and very fragrant. 
The plants grow freely in light rich 
soil ; and they are readily propagated 
by cuttings, either of the shoots or 
roots. 

Brunsvigia. — See Amaryllis. 

Bryony. — See Tamus ; under 
which both kinds are described. 

Buck-eye The American name 

for the smooth-fruited horse-chestnut. 
(See Pavia.) 



Buckler Mustard. — See Biscu- 

TELLA. 

BUCK-THORN. See FvHAMNUS. 

Budding is an operation for propa- 
gating ligneous plants, as a substitute, 
in particular cases, for grafting, or 
other modes of propagation. In flori- 
culture, it is more particularly used 
for propagating select species of roses. 
The time of performing the operation 
is from July to September ; and the 
mode is as follows : — The first thing 
to be done is to select a young shoot 
of the current year, from which the 
bud is to be taken, and a stock of 
one or of several years' growth, into 
which the bud is to be inserted. The 
bud is cut out with a portion of the 
bark, and the wood attached above 
and below the footstalk of a leaf, in 
the axil of which leaf the bud is situ- 
ated. To do this, a sharp penknife 
or budding-knife is inserted in the 
shoot, about three-fourths of an inch 
below the bud, and passed up beneath 
the bud to about half an inch above 
it ; the bud, with the bark and wood 
to which it is attached, is then held 
in the left hand, and with the knife 
in the right hand the thin film of 
wood is quickly picked out, leaving 
the bud attached to a piece of bark, 
technically called the shield. A slit 
is then made in the back of the 
stock, about one- third of an inch in 
length, and a transverse cut is made 
within one-fourth of an inch of the 
upper part of the longitudinal slit. 
The bark is opened on both sides of 
the longitudinal slit by means of a 
thin flat piece of bone or ivory ; or, in 
Nursery practice, with the end of the 
handle of the knife, which is made 
thin on purpose. The bud is now 
inserted in its natural position, with 
the bud looking upwards, and a por- 
tion of the upper part of the bark to 
which the bud is attached is cut 
across, so as to fit to the transverse 
cut which was formed in the stock. 



BUDDING. 



34 



BUDDING. 



The bud is made fast in its situation 
by tying it with a strand or ribbon of 
bast matting. This being done in 
summer or autumn, the matting re- 
mains on for a month or six weeks, 
according to circumstances, till the 
back of the bud shows, by its healthy 
appearance, that a vital union has 
taken place. The matting may now 
be loosened, and in a week or two 
altogether removed. By another 
mode, differing a little from the above, 
the cut across is made below the slit, 
as shown in fig. 1, in which d shows 
the cuts made in the stock, e the bud 
inserted, and /the bast mat applied. 



FIG. 1. 




COMMON OR SHIELD- BUDDING. 

Niche budding is when the wood is 
retained in the bud, as shown in fig. 
2, in which g is the prepared stock ; c 



fig. 2. 




the bud turned to show the wood, and 
a b the bud applied, which should af- 
terwards be bound with bast mat, as 
before. In placing the bud on the 
stock in niche-budding, the principal 



thing to be attended to is, to bring the 
horizontal edges of the base of the 
niche in the stock, and those of the 
bud, which is to fit into it, into the 
most perfect contact possible ; be- 
cause the union is produced, not as in 
common summer budding, by the 
junction of the soft wood of the stock 
with the rudiment of the soft wood on 
the inside of the bark of the bud, but 
by the junction of soft wood with soft 
wood, as in common grafting. This 
mode of budding will always succeed 
best, when the niche in the stock is 
made where there is already a bud, 
(as shown at g) making the horizontal 
cut through the base of the bud. 

Figs 3 to 6, show an improved mode 
budding, which has been lately found 



fig. 3. 




FRENCH BUDDING. 

in France to be remarkably success- 
ful. The bud is prepared in the usual 



BUDDING. 



35 



BUDDING. 



manner, except that both ends of the 
shield are cut square across, as at a, in 
fig. 3. On the stock the bark is cut ho- 
rizontally, and vertically to a smaller 
extent, as indicated at b. This being 
done, the right hand of the operator 
applies the thin flat point, or spatula, 
of the handle of the budding-knife on 
one side of the incision, and passes it 
through to the other side ; the strap of 
bark is then torn down, as shown at c, 
in Jig. 4, the thumb being placed on 
the upper part of it, so as to hold it 



figs 4 and 5. 




FRENCH BUDDING. 

firm against the blade of the budding- 
knife, while with the left hand the 
bud or shield is inserted in its place. 
This being done, the shield is cut 
across, so as to fit exactly to the bark 
of the stock at its upper part ; and, 
next, a portion is cut off the raised 



bark, so as to reduce it to such a 
length as will bring it exactly up to the 
lower side of the bud, as shown at d, in 
Jig. 5. The bud is then tied, as shown 
at e, in Jig. 6 ; but with the petiole of a 

FIG. 6. 




FRENCH BUDDING. 

leaf included in the upper part of the 
tie, the leaf suspended from which 
serves to shield the bud from the sun. 
By this mode of budding, the soft wood 
is less injured than by the common 
mode, in which it is always more or 
less scratched by the blade of the 
budding-knife, and is sometimes re- 
moved altogether ; when, of course, 
the bud has no chance of success. 
This mode of budding is particularly 
adapted for thin-barked shrubs, and 
more especially for roses. 

Another mode is called annular 
flute-budding ; in which a branch or 
j> 2 



BUDDING. 



36 



BULBS. 



shoot is chosen on the tree which is 
to be propagated, as thick as, or 
thicker than, the stock in which the 
bud is to be inserted. A ring of bark 
including a bud is then cut off from 
the branch of the shrub which it is 
to be propagated, and detached by 
splitting it longitudinally on one side. 
A similar ring of bark is then de- 
tached from the stock, and the former 
inserted in its place, and tied on with 
matting. This mode of budding is 
found particularly suitable for all trees 
or shrubs having thick bark. There 
are many other kinds of budding, but 
these are in the most general use. 

It sometimes happens in the case of 
roses, that the bud will produce a 
shoot the same season in which it has 
been inserted ; but it more frequently 
remains dormant till the following 
spring. At this period the stock 
should be cut over a few inches above 
the bud ; and the shoot, as it grows, 
should be slightly tied to the portion 
of stock left on above the bud, in 
order to prevent it from being injured 
by high winds. The second year this 
portion of the stock may be cut off 
close to the bud. 

Buds may be inserted in stocks at 
a few inches from the ground, in 
which case, the plants produced are 
called dwarfs ; or in straight stems at 
four, five, or six feet from the 
ground, in which case the plants pro- 
duced are called standards. The 
latter is the most common mode of 
budding roses and orange trees : but 
other shrubs and trees of rare or or- 
namental kinds are commonly budded 
within a foot, or a few inches from 
the ground. Sometimes buds of se- 
veral kinds are inserted in the same 
stock ; and sometimes buds are in- 
serted in branches in different parts of 
a tree, for the sake either of supplying 
vacant places in the branches, or of 
producing several kinds on the same 
tree. Thus on climbing British roses, 



several varieties of Chinese roses may 
be budded ; and on the single red ca- 
mellia, several varieties of double red 
or white camellias. 

In all cases of budding, it is essen- 
tial that the stock shall not be Very 
different from the bud to be inserted 
in it. In some cases it is even neces- 
sary that the bud and the stock should 
be of the same species ; while on the 
other hand it sometimes happens that 
a bud may be inserted successfully in 
any stock which is of the same natu- 
ral order. Thus the lilac, the olive, 
and the fringe-tree, may be budded 
on the common ash ; all the lour 
species being of the same natural or- 
der, Oleacece. Roses and thorns are 
the plants to which budding is most 
commonly applied by amateurs ; and 
the finer kinds of the former genus are 
generally budded on wild briars of the 
dog-rose, and of the latter (Cratae- 
gus), on the common hawthorn. 

Bu'ddlea. — Scrophularince. — De- 
ciduous or evergreen shrubs, natives 
of India or South America, of which 
one species, B. globbsa, is worth 
culture in the shrubbery. It has fine 
golden yellow, ball-like flowers, grow- 
ing in any common soil, and is tole- 
rably hardy, though it is sometimes 
killed by very severe frost. It is 
readily increased by cuttings under a 
hand-glass. 

Bulbs are plants which belong to a 
particular division of vegetables, hav- 
ing certain peculiarities which require 
a particular mode of culture. They 
are all, with scarcely a single excep- 
tion, very ornamental from the very 
large size of their flowers in propor- 
tion to the entire plants, and from the 
brilliancy of their colours. Their 
principal peculiarity is, that they pro- 
duce but a limited number of leaves 
every season ; and hence, if these 
leaves are cut off or injured, no new 
leaves are produced that season. In 
all other herbaceous plants, when 



BULBS. 



37 



BULBS. 



the leaves are destroyed, fresh leaves 
are produced to a comparatively unli- 
mited extent ; and hence, if the sea- 
son be long enough, the plant may 
produce a sufficiency of foliage in the 
current year to enable it to mature 
flowers in the next. But in bulbs 
the case is different ; the leaves pro- 
duced are very few, and if they are 
shortened before they are fully grown, 
or cut off before they begin to decay, 
the bulb is deprived of nourishment 
to such an extent, as either not to 
flower at all the followiug season, or 
to flower very weakly. Thus, the 
great art in the culture of bulbs is to 
preserve all their leaves uninjured, to 
expose them fully to the sun and air, 
and by no means to cut them off till 
they have begun to decay at the ex- 
tremities. By far the greater number 
of bulbs flower in spring, and produce 
their flower-stems immediately after 
they begin to grow : and shortly after 
they have flowered they cease grow- 
ing, and remain dormant and without 
leaves during the remainder of the 
year. Hence, almost all bulbs re- 
quire to be planted in autumn ; fmd 
hence also, they require, free, dry, 
and somewhat rich soil, into which 
their roots may penetrate easily, and 
procure nourishment without diffi- 
culty for their rapidly-growing leaves. 
The bulb is in all cases strengthened 
by preventing the flowers from pro- 
ducing seeds ; and in most cases it 
ought to be taken up, as soon as the 
leaves have decayed, and preserved in 
dry sand or earth, and in some cases 
on shelves, or in papers in a dry room, 
till the planting season in autumn. 
Bulbs which are indigenous to Britain, 
such as those of the common wild 
Hyacinth, and some of the Narcissi, 
receive little injury from remaining 
in the ground all the year ; but im- 
proved varieties of indigenous bulbs, 
and all bulbs from warm climates, 
such as those of the Hyacinth, the 



Ixias, &c, are greatly injured by the 
moisture of our summers ; and when 
left in the ground, require the inter- 
position of art to keep the soil tolera- 
bly dry. From the circumstance of 
bulbs growing with great rapidity 
when in a state of vegetation, they 
require abundance of water ; and this 
is the reason why the soil in which 
they are planted should always be 
deep, so as to retain moisture. A 
bulb is essentially a bud, and contains 
within itself the germs of the leaves 
and flowers which are to be produced 
the following season. In plants be- 
longing to the other division of vege- 
tables, those with netted leaves, or 
what are called Dicotyledons, a 
plant which is weak in the beginning 
of the year, may, by increased care 
and nourishment, be made to flower 
in the course of the season ; but this 
is by no means the case with bulbs, 
not one additional leaf or flower being 
in their case capable of being produced 
during the season, that is not previ- 
ously in an embryo state in the bulb. 
Thus, in one sense, bulbs are of 
more easy culture than any other 
class of plants ; because the germ 
being previously formed, and the 
nourishment being provided in the 
body of the bulb, it is only necessary 
to supply heat and moisture to cause 
these to develope. Hence, the prac- 
tice of growing bulbs of Hyacinths, 
Tulips, Narcissi, Crocuses, Irises, 
Snowdrops, Fritillarias, &c, placed 
over water in glasses, or vessels of 
earthenware, or in moist moss. Bulbs 
are increased by little bulbs called 
offsets, which are produced by the side 
of the old bulb. New bulbs are also 
formed every year in the Tulip and Hy- 
acinth, at the side of the old bulb ; in 
the Crocusand the Gladiolus, and many 
of the Cape Iridacese, over the bulb; 
and in the bulbous Irises, &c, under 
the bulb. Hence, in the cultivation of 
bulbs in the open garden, there is aeon- 



BULBOCODIUM. 



33 



BUTTERFLIES. 



stant tendency in some species to sink 
deeply into the ground, and in others 
to rise to the surface, which must be 
carefully counteracted by the cultiva- 
tor, by taking up and replanting ; thus, 
the bulbous Iris,when left three or four 
years in the ground, produces weak 
leaves, and ceases to flower freely, from 
the sinking of the bulbs; the Cro- 
cus, on the other hand, produces 
weak flowers and leaves from the 
bulbs rising above the surface ; and 
the Tulip, if left in the ground for a 
few years, in consequence of the bulb 
being always produced at one side, is 
never found to come up twice exactly 
in the same spot. Experience proves, 
that certain bulbs which are in a state 
far removed from wild nature, require 
the greatest care to preserve them 
from disease, such as the cultivated 
Hyacinth. These, therefore, must 
be taken up every year, and carefully 
preserved ; while others, comparatively 
incapable of much cultivation, such as 
the Snowdrop, may be left in the 
ground a number of years without in- 
jury. Bulbs, like all other plants, 
may be propagated by seeds; and from 
these, in the case of the Crocus and 
Hyacinth, the Crown Imperial, and 
Iris Xiphium, and Iris Xiphiodes, 
an endless number of beautiful va- 
rieties may be produced. This fur- 
nishes a fine source of interesting 
amusement to the amateur. The 
seeds should be sown in beds of light 
earth, where the plants may remain 
till they come into flower, which will 
generally be in from three tofiveyears. 
The soil for almost all bulbs should be 
a free sandy loam, and the situation 
open, and fully exposed to the sun. 

Bulbocodium. — MelanihacecB. — 
Bulbous plants, natives of Spain and 
the Crimea ; flowering in March and 
August, and of easy culture in loamy 
soil. B. vernum, which does not 
grow above four inches in height, is a 
desirable plant for growing in a pot. 



Bulbocodium. — The Hoop-petti- 
coat Narcissus ; a pretty little species? 
not above six inches high. 

Bupleu^rum. — Umbelliferce. — 
Hare's-ear. Herbaceous plants, with 
greenish yellow flowers, and very 
glaucous or blueish leaves. They are 
natives of Europe, and will grow in 
any common garden-soil. Several 
shrubs are included by some botanists 
in this genus ; but they were separated 
by Sprengel, and formed into the 
genus Tenoria. These are rather 
tender, being natives of the shores of 
the Mediterranean and the Cape of 
Good Hope; but near London they will 
bear ordinary winters in the open air. 
They should be grown in sandy loam. 
Bur-Marigold. — See Bidens. 
Burto s nia. — LeguminoscB. — 
New Holland shrubs, of which B. 
conferta is the most desirable species. 
It grows to the height of two feet, and 
produces its violet-coloured flower3 
from July to September. For its 
culture, see Australian Shrubs. 

Butcher's Broom See Ruscus. 

Butter and Eggs A kind of 

Narcissus. 

Bu tomus. — Butomeae. — The 
flowering rush. One of the hand- 
somest of aquatic plants, deserving a 
place in eveiy aquarium. It grows 
to the height of two feet, and pro- 
duces its elegant head of pink flowers 
in June and July. 

Butterflies. — These beautiful in- 
sects are never injurious to gardens 
exeept in their caterpillar state. As 
butterflies, they only sip a little honey 
from the flowers ; their sole business 
being to propagate their species, and 
then they die. Thus, the butterflies that 
are almost always on the wing, and 
which are the males, may be suffered 
to flutter out their brief existence un- 
molested ; but when a butterfly is 
found sitting on a branch with its 
wings folded, in bright sunshine, it 
should be destroyed, as the butterflies 



BU'XUS. 



39 



BU'XUS. 



found in this position are generally fe- 
males, just about to lay their eggs. 
Sometimes, butterflies thus placed, 
are found, when they are examined, 
to be dead ; and when this is the case, 
the adjacent branches and leaves 
should be searched for eggs. 

Butterfly Plants. — See Onci- 
dium and Phal#:nopsis. 

Bu'xus. — L. — Euphorbiacece. — 
There are only two species known ; 
viz., B. sempervtrens, and B. ba- 
ledrica, the Minorca box, both hardy 
shrubs or low trees. The former is 
one of the most valuable plants in 
European gardens, both as an under- 
growth in woods, and as an ornamental 
hedge for sheltering gardens. Box is 
also much used for forming edgings to 
walks ; but the kind employed for this 
purpose, though it is considered to be 
only a dwarf variety of JS. sempervi- 
rens, is so different from the tree-box 
in its habit, that it might almost be 
considered as a distinct species. The 
box-tree has been grown in European 
gardens almost from time immemorial. 
It was one of the principal ornaments 
in the gardens of Pliny ; and in more 
modern times the dwarf box was almost 
the only plant used for forming the 
embroidery or scroll-work, or what- 
ever that terrestrial arabesque may be 
called, which came into fashion in the 
time of Louis XIV. At present, this 
kind of scroll-work is no longer in 
use; but the dwarf-box is still a 
favourite for edgings to beds, and it 
will be perhaps always preferred to all 
other plants, from its hardiness, easy 
culture, and compact habit of growth. 
It is also evergreen, and of great dura- 
tion ; it is easily propagated, and bears 
clippingor cuttingremarkably well. It 
is readily propagated by taking up the 
plants, and after dividing them, re- 
planting them farther apart, and a 
little deeper than they were before. 
It will grow in any soil not saturated 
with moisture, and it may be cut or 



clipped at any season of the year. 
The best time for clipping box, how- 
ever, is about the end of June ; after 
which, especially if well-watered, the 
box makes a second shoot of half an 
inch, or an inch in length, which obli- 
terates the marks of the shears. To 
form edgings of box properly, is an 
operation of gardening that requires 
considerable care. First, the ground 
should be rendered firm and even ; 
secondly, a narrow trench should be 
accurately cut out with the spade in 
the direction in which the edging is to 
be planted ; thirdly, the box should 
be thinly and equally laid in along 
the trench, the tops being all about 
an inch above the surface of the soil ; 
and fourthly, the soil should be ap- 
plied to the plants, and firmly trodden 
in against them, so as to keep the 
edging exactly in the position re- 
quired. The trench is, in general, 
made on the side next the walk, and 
after the soil is pressed down, and the 
walk gravelled, the gravel is brought 
np, over the soil, close to the stems 
of the box, so as to cover the soil at 
least an inch in thickness, and to 
prevent any soil being seen on the 
gravel-walk side of the box. A box- 
edging once properly made, and clip- 
ped every year, so as to form a minia- 
ture hedge, about three inches wide 
at bottom, three inches high, and two 
inches wide at top, will last ten or 
twelve years before it requires to be 
taken up and replanted ; but, if the 
edging be allowed to attain a larger 
size — say, six inches wide at bottom, 
six inches high, and three inches wide 
at top, — it will last fifteen or twenty 
years , or probably a m uch longer period. 

Box-hedges for shelter are treated 
like other hedges, and being clipped 
at the same period as box-edgings, 
will last for an unknown period, pro- 
bably for centuries ; provided the sur- 
face of the hedge, or, in other words, 
the points of the shoots, are cut back 



ca'ctus. 



40 



ca'ctus. 



occasionally, so as to admit the air to 
the centre of the hedge. The box, 
when used to execute arabesques, or 
scroll-work on the ground, is not al- 
lowed to grow higher than two or 
three inches, and is cut quite fiat at 
top ; the entire figure of the arabesque 
being formed of box, without the intro- 
duction of floAvers or other plants ; 
though occasionally with the addition 
of small cones or globes of box rising 



up from the terminal points of the 
arabesque figure. These cones, pyra- 
mids, globes, or other figures, are kept 
in correct shape, by being clipped 
every year. When verdant sculpture 
was in fashion, no tree excepting the 
yew was so well adapted for it as the 
box ; and the tree was cut into the 
proper shape, by putting a wire-frame 
of the desired form over the tree, and 
clipping the branches to it. 



c. 



Caca^liajL. — Composite. — C.coc- 
cinea, L., Emilia coccinea, Cass., is 
a half-hardy annual, with a bright 
scarlet flower, somewhat resembling 
that of the common groundsel. It 
it is cultivated for the brilliancy of 
the colour of its flowers, though it is 
scarcely worth the trouble it requires ; 
as it must not only be raised on a 
hotbed, but its long slender stalks 
must be staked and tied up, to make 
it look at all neat. There are several 
perennial species of Cacalia, but they 
are very seldom seen in British gardens. 

Ca'ctus, L. — Cactacece. — The 
very remarkable succulent plants, ar- 
ranged by Linnaeus under the name of 
Cactus, have been distributed by mo- 
dern botanists over numerous genera, 
which they are still continually 
changing and re-arranging. At first a 
few plants were left in the genus 
Cactus, but now that genus is annihi- 
lated, and seven or eight new genera 
substituted for it ; still, as all the 
plants that once composed it, and the 
new ones of the same nature that 
collectors are continually sending 
home, are known by the general name 
of Cacti, it has been thought advisable 
to give here a slight sketch of the 
whole family. 

In the time of Linnaeus, very few 
Cacti were known; and even in the year 
1 80 7, Persoon enumerated only thirty- 
two, but now above five hundred living 



species are to be found in a single col- 
lection ; and numbers of new species 
are being sent home by collectors 
every year. These new species are 
chiefly found in the tropical regions 
of America, but they extend over 75° 
of latitude, some being found near 
the boundary of the United States, 
and some near the town of Concep- 
tion, in Chili. By far the greater 
number, however, grow in the dry 
burning plains of Mexico and Brazil, 
where they are subjected to the alter- 
nate seasons of extreme moisture and 
extreme drought. In these arid 
plains, where all nature seems parched 
up for six months in every year, 
the Cacti have been mercifully pro- 
vided to serve as reservoirs of mois- 
ture; and not only the natives, by 
wounding the fleshy stems with their 
long forest-knives, supply themselves 
with a cool and refreshing juice, but 
even the cattle contrive to break 
through the skin with their hoofs, and 
then to suck the liquid they contain 
— instinct teaching them to avoid 
wounding themselves with the spines. 

The Cacti are arranged by nature 
in several distinct groups ; the first of 
which consists of the tree Cacti, or those 
kinds of Cereus, which have long 
slender stems, and which usually grow 
on the summits of the mountains of 
Brazil, forming a singular kind of 
crest. These are generally thirty or 



ca'ctus. 



4 



1 



calandri'nia. 



forty feet high, and sometimes are 
branched like candelabra, and some- 
times consist of only one naked stem, 
not thicker than a man's arm, though 
of such enormous height. The Mam- 
malarias, and Echinocacti, or Porcu- 
pine Cacti, which form another group, 
grow in the valleys of the temperate 
regions, generally in loamy soils, and 
low grass ; and the Opuntias and Pere- 
sias, which form two others, are also 
principally found in the temperate lati- 
tudes. The Melocacti, or Melon- 
Cacti, and the Rhipsalis, which has 
narrow-jointed stems, are two other 
groups, which are only found in the 
hottest parts of the tropics Among the 
many peculiarities of this family of 
plants, it may he mentioned, that if 
collectors cut off the top of any of the 
cacti which they may find in flower, 
and send it with the flower on it to 
England, the seeds will perfect them- 
selves, and ripen on the passage home, 
from the supply of moisture contained 
in the divided part. 

With regard to the culture of the 
Cacti in this country, it is found, that 
generally speaking, they ought to have 
a season of complete rest followed by 
one of violent excitement ; that is, 
they ought to be kept almost without 
water from October to March, and 
then watered profusely while they are 
coming into flower. They ought all 
to be grown in pots well drained with 
cinders, instead of potsherds, as the 
latter retain too much moisture for 
the delicate and succulent roots ; 
and they all enjoy bottom heat, which 
makes them throw out abundance of 
fibrils. When received late in the 
year, that is to say in October or later, 
they should not be potted till the fol- 
lowing spring ; and when raised from 
seed, (which is frequently sent over, 
even in dead specimens,) the seed 
should be sown in silver sand, and 
the young plants when transplanted 
should not be watered for several days, 



Cesalpi'nia, Pluk. — Legumino- 
sce. — The splendidly-flowering plant, 
known in the West Indies by the name 
of the Barbadoes Flower-fence, which 
was formerly called Poinciana, is 
now included in this genus. It re- 
quires a stove, and should be grown 
in a mixture of loam and peat, with 
abundance of room for its roots. It 
is propagated by cuttings struck in 
sand, in a moist heat under glass. The 
other plants belonging to the genus 
are seldom found in British gardens. 

Cala'mpelis, D. Don. — See Eccre- 

MOCARPAS. 

Calandri'nia. — Portulaceas. — 
Peruvian and Californian plants, with 
•fleshy leaves and showy flowers, gene- 
rally treated as annuals, but most of 
which will live two or three years in 
a greenhouse. There is some confu- 
sion about the specific names ; the 
plants figured in the Botanical Maga- 
zine as C. speciosa, and C. grandi- 
flora, being quite different from those 
figured under these names in the 
Botanical Register, and known by 
them in the London nurseries. Of 
the kinds sold in the London seed- 
shops, C. arenariahsis small flowers, 
and is not worth growing ; C. spe- 
ciosa, Lind. {Talinum ciliatum, 
Ruiz et Pavon,) is a Californian an- 
nual, with beautiful rich crimson 
flowers, which seem reclining on their 
bed of dark green leaves, and which 
have no fault but that of closing at 
four o'clock in the day ; C. grandi- 
Jlora, Lind., the flowers of which, 
notwithstanding its name, are much 
smaller than those of the C discolor, 
Lind, ; the latter being one of the 
most splendid flowers that will grow in 
the open air in England. The seeds 
of the latter two species (both of which 
grow rather tall) are generally raised 
on a slight hotbed, but they may be 
sown in a warm border in the open air 
in April, when 'they will flower in 
June. 



CALCEOLARIA. 



42 



cale'ndula. 



Calcareous Soils. — Soils contain- 
ing a considerable portion of lime or 
chalk, mixed with sand or loam, and 
decaying vegetable and animal matter. 
Calcareous soils are generally very 
productive ; and when manured, they 
retain and give out slowly the nou- 
rishing parts of the manure longer 
than any other kind of soil. 

Calceolaria. — Scrophuldrince . 
— Perhaps no plants hybridize more 
freely than the different species of 
this genus ; and what is remarkable is, 
that the shrubby kinds appear to unite 
freely with those that are herbaceous. 
In 1820, only half a dozen species 
were known, only one of which, C. 
corymbbsa, Cav., with large yellow 
flowers, had any pretensions to beauty. 
In the next ten years, five or six more 
species were introduced from Chili, 
two of which, C. arachnoidea, and 
C. purpurea, Grah., had purple 
flowers. The latter closely resembled 
C. corymbbsa in its habit of growth ; 
and about April, 1830, the happy 
idea struck the late Mr. Penny, of the 
Milford Nursery, to attempt to hy- 
bridize them. The result was the 
hybrid, C. Gellaniana, the flowers 
of which were orange and dark brown. 
Mr. Penny then tried C. arachnoi- 
dea as one of the parents, instead of 
C. purpurea, and he produced the 
magnificent Calceolaria, which he 
called C. Youngii, and which is still 
common in collections. In 1831) 
the spotted-flowered Calceolaria, C. 
crenatijibra, Cav., (C. pendula, D. 
Don,) was introduced, and from this 
several splendid hybrids were raised. 
Some cultivator was then induced to 
try to hybridize one of the shrubby 
kinds, C. bicblor, the flowers of 
which were pale yellow and white, 
with the herbaceous kinds having dark 
yellow and purple flowers, and some 
beautiful plants were the result. Prom 
that time to the present, innumerable 
hybrids have been raised every year, 



varying through every possible shade 
of crimson, brown, orange, purple, 
pink, and yellow, sometimes spotted, 
and sometimes delicately meltmginto 
white. One or two have been raised 
which were pure white, and others 
white, with clearly marked and dis- 
tinct spots. They are all half-hardy, 
only requiring protection from frost ; 
and they should be grown in a com- 
post of equal parts of turfy loam and 
peat, with a little sand. They all re- 
quire a good deal of water, as even 
the little hardy shrubby-kind, C. 
rugbsa, with small, dark yellow 
flowers, will flag, if water should be 
neglected even for a single day. The 
herbaceous kinds are still more sus- 
ceptible in this respect, and when 
grown in pots, should stand in saucers 
of water ; the water being changed 
every day, and never given to them 
till it has been warmed by standing 
for a little time in the same tempera- 
ture as the plants. 

Calceolarias are propagated by cut- 
tings, which strike readily in the same 
soil as that in which the plants are 
grown ; and which do not even re- 
quire the aid of a bell-glass, though 
they will certainly strike sooner under 
one than without. The seeds ripen 
in great abundance, and they should 
be sown as soon as they are ripe. The 
young plants should be pricked 
out as soon as they come up, and then 
transplanted into larger and larger 
pots, increasing gradually in size, and 
each being only a little larger than 
the preceding one, till they begin to 
show flower-buds ; and when thus 
treated, they will flower the following 
summer. When the seeds are not sown 
till spring, they will not flower till 
the second summer. There is only 
one annual Calceolaria, C. pinnata, 
and it is not worth growing. 

Cale'ndula. — Compositae. — The 
Marigold. There are several hand- 
some species, some of which are 



callichro'a. 



43 



calliste'phus. 



shrubby, and some annuals ; the com- 
mon Marigold, C. officinalis, and its 
varieties, and C. stellata, are the 
handsomest of the annual species. 
The Cape Marigolds, C pluvialis and 
C. hybrida, have been removed by 
Professor De Candolle to anew genus, 
which he calls Dimorphotheca. 
Both these species are hardy annual 
plants, with very elegant flowers, 
which close at the withdrawal of the 
sun ; and, as they do not open at all, 
when dark heavy clouds foretell the 
approach of rain, Linnaeus called the 
commonest species Calendula 'plu- 
vialis, or the rainy Marigold. The 
florets of the ray of the flowers of 
this plant are of a pure white inside, 
and of a dark purple on the outside ; 
while those of C. hybrida are of a 
dingy orange outside. 

Californian Annuals. — Beautiful 
anuual plants, mostly sent home by 
Douglas, and natives of California, on 
the north-west coast of North Ame- 
rica. They all bear cold much better 
than they do heat ; and they will live 
through the British winters in the 
open air without any protection, 
though they are easily killed by the 
heat of summer, particularly if their 
roots become by any chance exposed 
to the full rays of the sun. The 
roots are indeed very feeble, particu- 
larly at the collar, where most plants 
are strong ; and they will die in a few 
hours if the sun strikes this vital part. 
Nature has provided against this dan- 
ger, by giving most of these plants a 
trailing habit, and thus covering the 
roots with abundance of leaves and 
stems : but cultivators, not being 
aware of the use of this, often, by 
training their plants over a frame, 
&c, expose the collar, and thus kill 
their plants. For the mode of sow- 
ing, &c, see Annuals. 

Calla. — See Arum. 

CallichroV. — Composite. — C. 
platyglossa, the only species known., 



is a showy Californian annual, with 
golden yellow flowers, requiring the 
usual treatment of Californian an- 
nuals. 

Callio'psis. — Composite. — Every 
one knows the beautiful plants which 
compose this genus under their old 
name of Coreopsis; from which genus 
they have been separated on account 
of a slight difference in the internal 
structure of the flower. The new 
and old names have some resem- 
blance in point of sound, but they are 
very different in origin, for Coreop- 
sis is derived from the Greek word 
koris, a bug, from the resemblance of 
the seeds to that insect ; while Cal- 
liopsis is from kallislos, signifying 
most beautiful. The species are 
hardy annuals and perennials ; the 
former of which may be sown in 
autumn, as they will stand the winter 
without any protection, and will thus 
come into flower early in summer. 
All the species will grow in any com- 
mon soil ; and the perennial kinds are 
propagated by division of the root. 
Calliopsis bicolor is the same as 
Coreopsis tinctbria. 

Calliste^ma. — One of the botanic 
names for the China Aster. — See 
Callistephus. 

Calliste^mon. — Myrtacece. — 
Australian shrubs, with evergreen 
leaves and tassel-like flowers, better 
known by their old name of Metro- 
sideros. They should be grown in 
sandy loam ; and cuttings of the old 
wood strike freely in sand under a 
bell-glass. 

CallisteVhus, Dec. — Composites. 
— The China Aster, which is now 
known by botanists under this name, 
is one of the most ornamental annuals 
in British gardens. There are many 
varieties, and those known as the 
German Asters are considered the 
most beautiful. They should be 
raised on a hotbed in February or 
March, pricked out when the plants 



CALYSTE V GIA. 



44 



came'llia. 



have two or three leaves, and trans- 
planted into the open garden in May, 
where they will make a very fine ap- 
pearance in September and October. 
They should be grown in light rich soil, 
or in loam and thoroughly rotten dung. 

Caixu v na, D. Don. — The common 
Heather or Ling. — See E'rica. 

Calocho'rtus. — TulipacecB. — 
Californian bulbs with splendid flow- 
ers, but rather difficult of culture. 
They require a very sandy soil, which 
should be covered with litter in frosty 
weather, if the bulbs are not taken up 
as soon as they have done flowering in 
autumn. They produce their large 
lilac and white flowers in August and 
September, and occasionally ripen a 
few seeds, by which, or by offsets, 
they may be increased slowly. 

Ca'ltha. — RanunculacecB. — The 
Marsh Marigold. 

Calyca'nthus. — Calycanthaeece. 
Deciduous shrubs from North Ame- 
rica, with dark brownish purple flow- 
ers, remarkable for their fragrance, as 
well as their rich colour. The plants 
thrive best in loam and peat, but they 
will grow in any soil that is not very 
stiff and moist ; and they are com- 
monly propagated by layers. Most of 
what are called different species, are 
only varieties of C.floridus, the Ame- 
rican Allspice-tree. The scent of the 
flowers is commonly thought to re- 
semble that of ripe fruit. Calcan- 
thus prcecox, the Japan Allspice, is 
now called by De Candolle, Chimo- 
ndnthus fragrans, or the winter 
flower, as it produces its flowers about 
Christmas. — (See Chimonanthus.) 

Calyste v gia. — Convolvulacece. — 
The new name for the common hedge 
Convolvulus, and some other species 
from America resembling it. The 
red variety of C. sepiurn, commonly 
called the American Convolvulus, 
makes a very pretty covering for a 
bower. They grow best in sandy or 
gravelly soil. 



Came'llia. — TemstrcemiacecB. — 
Evergreen shrubs with splendid flow, 
ers, from China, of which C. japo- 
nica, and its numerous garden varie- 
ties, are in general cultivation in all 
the greenhouses of Europe and Ame- 
rica. Some of the varieties, as for 
example, C. j. variegata, the varie- 
gated red, are so hardy as to stand the 
open air, either as standards, or 
planted against a wall ; particularly 
if their roots are protected during 
frosty weather. It is a curious fact, 
that many tender and half-hardy 
plants will grow freely, and produce 
abundance of flowers, if their roots 
and collars are protected ; in a tempe- 
rature that would kill them imme- 
diately, if these tender parts were ex- 
posed to the influence of the cold. 
Thus, when Camellias are planted out, 
if the roots are protected during win- 
ter, by mulching, (that is, covering 
with straw or litter), and the trunk of 
the bush is wrapped round for about 
six or eight inches from the ground, 
with ahayband, or any other covering, 
the rest of the plant may be left 
entirely exposed without its sustain- 
ing the slightest injury. Camellias 
are commonly cultivated in sandy 
loam and peat, and this soil is perhaps 
the best for them when they are grown 
in pots ; but when they are planted 
out in a conservatory, or the open 
ground, they will thrive exceedingly 
well in sandy loam, mixed with rotten 
dung, or leaf mould. When the plants 
are in a growing state, they require 
abundance of water, both at the roots 
and over the leaves ; taking care, 
however, never to wet the leaves 
when the sun is shining upon them ; 
as wherever this occurs, the leaves 
become stained, or blotched, and look 
as though they were scalded. When 
Camellias are kept in a greenhouse or 
conservatory, imperfections in the 
glass will produce the same effect. 
The temperature of the Camellia 



CAMPANULA. 



45 



CAMPANULA. 



house should be between fifty and 
sixty degrees during the growing sea- 
son ; but when the flower-buds are 
formed, it may be lower, till the be- 
ginning of winter, when the buds be- 
gin to swell. At this season the tem- 
perature ought not to be suffered to 
fall below fifty degrees, otherwise the 
buds will be liable to drop off ; and 
they will also drop, if watering be 
neglected. All the species and va- 
rieties may be propagated by cuttings, 
taken off at the base of a leaf, or at 
a joint, as soon as the wood is ri- 
pened, and planted in sand under a 
glass ; but the finer varieties are ge- 
nerally propagated by layering, and 
inarching, or grafting. The French 
nurserymen have a very rapid mode 
of procuring plants by grafting, which 
they effect under bell-glasses, in 
strong moist heat, with scions of the 
young wood, on stocks formed of cut- 
tings struck the same season. From 
the Camellia being an evergreen, and 
its leaves being large, dark-green, and 
shinintr, it makes a very fine appear- 
ance against a conservative wall ; and 
no plant whatever is more magnifi- 
cent in a conservatory. It must be 
observed, that all the varieties of C. 
japonica cannot bear too much heat, 
and they prefer the shade to broad 
sunshine ; also that when they are 
planted against a wall, it is better 
with a south-east aspect than full 
south. C. Sasdnqua, and its beauti- 
ful variety, C. S. maliflora, are the 
most tender. 

Campa'nula. — Campanulacece. — 
Beautiful herbaceous plants, natives 
of Europe and Asia ; the greater part 
of which are perennials, and are 
hardy in British gardens. There are 
also some handsome hardy biennials 
and annuals, and one or two green- 
house species. Many of the hardy 
perennials are dwarf plants, which 
produce a profusion of flowers, more 
conspicuous than the leaves ; which 



renders them particularly adapted for 
rockwork, or growing in pots. Some 
of the species are so tall, as to require 
to be planted at the back of borders, 
or in a single row, along with other 
tall plants ; such, for example, as 
C. pyramidalis, the pyramidal bell- 
flower ; C. Trachelium, the throat- 
wort, &c. C. pyramidalis, is one 
of those plants that by repeated re- 
potting, can be brought to an extraor- 
dinary size, either as a narrow cone 
covered with deep blue flowers from 
the base to the summit, or trained 
against a frame in the fan manner. 
By either mode it makes a very 
splendid object ; and all the art re- 
quired to produce it, consists in em- 
ploying rich soil, and in shifting the 
plant for two years into pots always a 
little larger and larger,, so as to pre- 
vent it from coming into flower till 
it has acquired extraordinary vigour. 
Some of the prettiest little species for 
pots, or rockwork, are C. ceritaia, 
and C. uniflora, which do not exceed 
three inches in height, and are co- 
vered during June or July with blue 
flowers ; C. carpdthica, C. rotundi- 
folia, C. gargdnica, and upwards 
of fifty others, which do not exceed 
six inches in height. All these are 
very valuable for forming beds in a 
geometric or regularly-shaped flower- 
garden, from their dwarf and compact 
habit of growth, and from the great 
profusion of their leaves and brilliant- 
looking flowers. C. medium, the 
Canterbury Bell, is one of the most 
ornamental of biennials ; and C. spe- 
culum, Venus's Looking-glass, is a 
well-known and pretty annual. This 
last species has been, however, twice 
removed from the genus Campanula ; 
having been called Prismatocdrpus 
Speculum, by L'Heritier, and Spe- 
cularia Speculum, by De Candolle. 
The new Venus's Looking-glass of 
the nurseries, Campanula Lorei, 
has, however, been always considered 



CAPE BULBS. 



46 



CAPE SHRUBS. 



to belong to Campanula. All the 
species grow freely in any common 
soil, and are increased by dividing the 
roots, or by seeds. The roots of all 
the species are eatable. 

Campion. — See Silene, or Lych- 
nis. 

Candleberry Myrtle. — See My- 
ri x ca. 

Candytuft. — See Ibe v ris. 

Ca'nna, L. — Cannece, or Scila- 
minece. — Splendid reed-like plants, 
from the East and "West Indies, and 
South America, of which two species, 
C. patens and C. specibsa, are suf- 
ficiently hardy to stand the winter at 
the base of a south wall, where they 
will flower freely during summer. 
The common Indian shot, C. iiidica, 
and almost all of the other kinds, 
require a stove. They are all grown 
in rich light soil, and are readily in- 
creased by dividing the roots, or by 
seeds. The seeds of the hardy kinds 
generally require to be steeped in 
water before they are sown. They 
should then be raised on a hotbed, 
and shifted two or three times before 
they are planted out. 

Canterbury Bells. — See Campa'- 
nula. 

Cantua, W. — See Gilia and Ipo- 

MOPSIS. 

Cape Bulbs are remarkable for 
the beauty of their flowers ; and as 
they occupy but little space, a consi- 
derable collection of them may be 
grown in a very small garden, in a 
great measure without the aid of glass. 
The situation should be exposed to 
the south, and protected from the 
north ; and the soil should consist of 
sand and peat, or sand and leaf mould, 
to the depth of two feet, thoroughly 
drained. In such abed, all the Cape 
Iridacea: may be planted, placing the 
bulbs not less than six inches below 
the surface of the ground, and pro- 
tecting the plants when they come up 
with a mat ; and after they die down, 



covering the bed with rotten tan, rot- 
ten leaves, or litter. No other plants 
ought to be planted on the bed during 
the summer, nor any water given to 
it during winter, lest the bulbs should 
be rotted. If there is a sufficient 
length of wall, with no trees planted 
against it ; as, for example, the front 
wall of a pit or hothouse, the best 
mode is to make the bed not more 
than two or three feet in width ; by 
which means it may be easily and 
effectually protected by shutters, 
made to rest on the ground on one 
edge, and to lean against the wall on 
the other. When there is no such 
wall, a very good mode of affording 
protection during winter, is to sur- 
round the bed with a wooden frame, 
or a brick or stone wall ; and either 
to cover it with glazed sashes, or oiled 
canvass, in frames, or with boards, or 
mats ; taking care always to uncover 
the bed in fine weather. 

Cape Jasmine. — See Garde'nia. 
Cape Ph yll yrea.-- Cassi ne capen- 
sis, L. — A low, half-hardy shrub, 
allied to the holly. 

Cape Shrubs in their native coun- 
try grow chiefly in very sandy soil, 
mixed with vegetable mould, formed 
by the decay of the same shrubs 
which it nourishes. The best imita- 
tion of such a soil in British gardens 
is sandy loam, which ought to be well 
drained, by putting crocks or pot- 
sherds in the bottom of the pots, to 
the depth of an inch or two ; and af- 
terwards covering them with turfy peat, 
to prevent the soil from being washed 
through the crocks. In the manage- 
ment of Cape shrubs, the great art is, 
to keep them uniformly moist ; but 
never very wet, and never so dry as 
to cause the plants to droop their 
leaves. If ever they are allowed to 
droop their leaves for three or four 
hours, death is almost the certain con- 
sequence ; and this is the reason why 
so many Cape heaths are killed by 



CAPRIFO^LIUM. 



47 



CA^REX. 



those who will not take the trouble 
to water them regularly. To lessen 
the risk of destruction by drought, 
some cultivators have an outer and 
inner pot ; the object of the former 
being to lessen the evaporation from 
the latter. Others mix lumps of free- 
stone with the soil in the pots ; and 
these being powerful absorbers of 
moisture, retain, as it were, a reserve 
of water for the plant to have recourse 
to, when it is neglected by the gar- 
dener. It may be useful to observe, 
that when peat, or a mixture of sand 
and peat, in a pot where the soil has 
become matted with roots, is once 
thoroughly dried, it is extremely dif- 
ficult to moisten it again properly ; 
and hence, many persons, who pour 
water on the surface of pots con- 
taining plants in sandy peat, imagine 
that it penetrates the ball of earth and 
roots, while, in fact, it very fre- 
quently escapes between the ball and 
the pot, moistening only the outer 
surface of the ball, and leaving the 
great mass of roots in its centre quite 
dry. Perhaps as many Cape heaths 
and shrubs, and Australian shrubs, 
are killed in this way, as geraniums 
and bulbs are killed by over- watering. 
— See Eri v ca. 

Ca'pparis. — Capparidece. — A ge- 
nus of rambling shrubs, natives of 
both the East and West Indies, and 
of South America. One species, C. 
spinosa, the common Caper, grows 
wild in the south of Europe, and 
forms in England a greenhouse trailer, 
as well as a most suitable plant for a 
conservative wall, remarkable in both 
situations for the beauty of its flowers. 
It grows in common soil, and is readily 
propagated by cuttings of the roots. 

Caprifo v lium. — Caprifoliacece. — 
The Honeysuckle. Well-known 
climbing plants, remarkable for the 
delightful fragrance of their flowers. 
C.italicum, the Italian Honeysuckle ; 
C. Periclymenum, the common 



Woodbine, and its varieties ; and C. 
sempervirens, the Trumpet Honey- 
suckle, are those most common in 
collections. The beautiful and very 
fragrant plant generally called Loni- 
cera flexubsa, Bot. Reg., is some- 
times found under the name of Ca- 
prifulium chinense ; and the gold 
and silver Honeysuckle is generally 
called C. japonicum. Both these 
plants are natives of Japan and China, 
and they are rather tender in British 
gardens. They should be grown in a 
soil composed of sand, peat, and 
loam, and are propagated by cuttings. 
The Trumpet Honeysuckle, and C 
fiavum, Bot. Mag., should also be 
■grown in sandy peat, and require a 
slight protection in severe weather ; 
but all the other kinds may be grown 
in common soil, without any further 
care than training them against a wall, 
or over paling. 

Ca'psicum. — Solanacece. — Thepods 
of the plants belonging to this genus 
produce the Cayenne pepper ; and 
they are very ornamental from their 
brilliant colour, which is a bright 
scarlet, and their remaining ou all 
the winter. They are generally ten- 
der annuals, requiring the heat of a 
stove to ripen their fruit ; but there 
is one species, C. cerasiforme, some- 
times called Cherry Pepper, or Bell 
Pepper, which does not require any 
greater heat than that of a green- 
house. 

Carda'mine. — Cruciferce. — Low 
herbaceous plants, natives of Europe, 
and of which C. praterisis plena, the 
Cuckoo Flower, or Lady's Smock, 
and one or two other species, deserve 
a place in the flower garden. C. tri- 
fblia is valuable for its early flower- 
ing, and, with several other species, 
is well adapted for pots or rock work. 
Common soil, kept moist. 

Cardinal-flower. See Lobelia. 

Ca^rfx.— Cyperacea — TheSedges 
are well-known British and American 



castille'ja. 



48 



CATERPILLARS. 



plants, of which only one species, C. 
Fraseriana, Ait., a native of Ame- 
rica, deserves a place in the flower- 
garden. It grows about half a foot in 
height, has broader leaves than the 
common Sedges, and produces its large 
white flowers, which look like little 
lilies, from April to June. It requires 
a moist loamy soil, or to be grown in 
a pot, and kept in a pan of water. 

Carnation. — See Dia'nthus. 

Carob tree. — See Ceratonia. 

Caroli'nea. — BromelidcecB. — 
Splendid tropical low trees, one of 
which, C. insignis, occasionally flowers 
in British stoves. It requires a rich 
loamy soil, and plenty of space ; and 
it may be propagated by cuttings with 
the leaves on, in sand under a glass, 
and plunged in heat. 

Ca'rthamus. — Composites. — 
Hardy annuals. C. tinctorius, the 
Bastard Saffron, is an old inhabitant 
of British gardens, and it only re- 
quires sowing in the open air in 
March or April. From the dried 
flowers of this plant is made what is 
called vegetable rouge. C. lanatus, 
L., the Distaff Thistle, is now called 
Kentrophyllum lanatum by DeCan- 
dolle. 

Ca'ssia. — Lepuminosce. — The 
Senna tret. Only a few of the species 
are from temperate climates, and 
among these, C. corymbosa, Lam., 
is a very showy greenhouse shrub, 
with yellow flowers ; and C. mari- 
landica, from Maryland, is a peren- 
nial herbaceous plant of easy culture 
in the open garden. All the lig- 
neous species are readily propagated 
by cuttings, and the others by seeds 
or division of the roots. 

Castille v ja. — Scrophularinoe. — 
The American Painted Cup. C. coc- 
cinea Sprengel, Bartsia L., Eu- 
chroma Nut., is a hardy annual, with 
yellow flowers and scarlet bracteas, 
which only requires sowing in March 
or April in the open ground. 



Cata'lpa. — Bignoniacece* — Deci- 
duous trees, one of which, C. syrin- 
gcefolia, Bot. Mag., is -quite hardy in 
British shrubberies, in which it richly 
deserves a place on account of its 
splendid flowers. It will grow in any 
common soil that is tolerably dry; 
but if it has too much moisture, the 
shoots, which are naturally soft, with 
a large pith, will never be thoroughly 
ripened. For the same reason, the 
situation ought to be airy. It is pro- 
pagated by seeds, or cuttings of the 
roots. 

Catana'nche. — Composites. — Her- 
baceous plants, natives of the south of 
Europe. C. ccerulea is a perennial ; 
C. bicolor, is a biennial ; and C. 
lutea, an annual. All the species 
have pretty flowers, but are rather 
awkward-looking plants, from their 
long and very slender flower-stalks. 
They are of easy culture, but grow 
best in poor gravelly soil. 

Catchflv. — See Silene. 

Caterpillars. — The larvae of 
moths aud butterflies, and very de- 
structive to vegetation. Many gar- 
deners keep their gardens clear by 
destroying the female butterflies and 
moths before they have laid their 
eggs (see Butterfly and Moth) ; 
and others by carefully searching for 
the eggs early in spring, when the 
trees are without leaves. When these 
preventive measures have been ne- 
glected, the only effectual way to 
prevent the ravages of caterpillars is 
to pick them off the trees separately. 
The visits of caterpillars are very un- 
certain, and some seasons they are 
much more abundant than in others. 
Sometimes the caterpillars of the 
Magpie Moth will entirely strip the 
gooseberry bushes of their leaves, and 
the fruit will, in consequence, become 
tough and insipid ; and in other 
seasons, the caterpillars of the Lackey 
Moth, the Hawthorn Butterfly, aud the 
Errnine Moth, will strip the hawthorn 



CEANO V THUS. 



49 



cela'strus. 



and flowering shrubs. In all these 
cases hand-picking should be resorted 
to as soon as the insects are perceived. 
Many persons recommend fumigating 
with tobacco smoke, or by burning 
wet straw under the tree ; and 
others, washing with tobacco or lime 
water ; but most of these remedies 
are worse than the disease. 

Catmint. — See Nepeta. 

Cattle v ya. — Orchidaceoe. — Or- 
chideous plants, with large and splen- 
did flowers, natives of South America. 
They may be grown either in pots in 
peat mixed with lime rubbish ; or on 
pieces of wood or cocoa husks hung up 
in a hothouse, the roots being wrapped 
in wet moss. All the species of 
Cattleya are easily propagated by di- 
viding their roots ; and they are parti- 
cularly valuable, as they will thrive in 
a common hothouse if well supplied 
with water, without requiring the ex- 
cessive heat and moisture generally 
necessary for the tropical Orchidese. 

CeanoVhus. — RhamnacecB. — Red 
root. American hardy and half-hardy 
shrubs, with large spikes of very small 
flowers. The most ornamental species 
of the genus is C. azitreus, which is 
only half-hardy in the climate of 
London, requiring protection from 
severe frosts. Ceanothus pdllidus is 
much hardier than C. azureus, and 
strongly resembles that species ; but 
its leaves are not hoary beneath, and 
its flowers, Dr. Lindley tells us in the 
Bot. Reg., "are smaller, as well as 
much paler." He adds, that it is often 
confused with C. ovatus, which "is 
a mere variety of C. Americana," 
and C. thrysifblius, which " is a 
Californian tree, with deep blue 
flowers, and very strongly angular 
branches." C. Amcricanus is the 
least ornamental of all the kinds ; 
and C. collinus is a dwarf plant, not 
above two feet high, with a profusion 
of white flowers. The last two are 
quite hardy, but the other kinds 



should be trained against a south 
wall, and protected from severe 
frosts by a thatched coping. They 
should all be grown in a compost 
consisting of three-fourths of heath 
mould, or a mixture of sand and peat, 
with one of loam, and the soil should 
be well drained. The best way to 
effect this, as the plants are generally 
grown in the open air, is to dig a pit 
for each, about two feet deep, and a 
foot and a half or two feet in diameter, 
and to fill about a third of it with 
broken brickbats, pieces of freestone, 
and pebbles. The compost should be 
put on this, and raised a few inches 
above the level of the general surface 
of the garden to allow for sinking. 
This plan will not only ensure drain- 
age, and thus prevent the roots from 
being injured with wet ; but the 
broken bricks and pieces of stone 
will provide a reservoir of moisture 
which will equally serve to prevent 
the roots from ever becoming too dry. 

Cedar of Goa. — Cupressus lusi- 
tanica, Tou. ; C. glauca, Lam. A 
very ornamental half-hardy tree, which 
in a sheltered situation has a beautiful 
effect on a lawn, from its drooping 
branches and glaucous foliage. It 
requires a light soil, and to be occa- 
sionally watered, as its roots are very 
apt to wither if suffered to become 
too dry. 

Celandine. See Chelidonium, 
and Ficaria. 

Celo-sia. — AmaranthacecB. — 
Tender annuals, with showy flowers. 
The common Cockscomb, C. cristata, 
j may be grown to a very large size by 
J raising the plants on a hotbed, and 
j frequently shifting them into longer 
| and larger pots, as directed for the 
balsam (see Balsa minia). 

Cela'strus, L. — Celastrinece. — 
The Staff tree. Half-hardy shrubs, 
mostly natives of the Cape, with 
white flowers. For culture, see Ce- 
anothus, 



ce'rasus. 



50 



ce'rcis. 



Celsia. — Solanacece, or Verbasci- 
nce. — Half-hardy annuals and bienni- 
als, with showy yellow flowers, and 
nearly allied to the genus Verbascum. 
They are generally raised on a hotbed, 
and the biennials are kept in the green- 
house during winter, as they are killed 
by a Blight frost. C. linearis, and 
C. urticcefolia, with scarlet flowers, 
are now included in thcgenus Alonsoa. 

Ckntaurea. — Composite. — The 
common perennial species are known 
by the English name of Knapweed ; 
and the only quite hardy annual one, 
C. Cyanus, by the name of Corn 
Bluebottle. The most beautiful spe- 
cies, C. Crocddylium, L., is a half- 
hardy annual, which should be raised 
on a hotbed, and planted out in May. 
C. benedicta, L., Cnicusbenedictvs, 
Dec, the Blessed Thistle, is a hardy 
annual, which may be sown in March 
or April, and will flower all the sum- 
mer ; and C. suavedlens, and C. 
moschata, L., the yellow and purple 
Sweet Sultans, have been formed into 
the genus Amberboa by Professor De 
Candolle. 

Ce'rasus. — Rosacea. — The Cher- 
ry. Hardy trees and shrubs, for the 
most part deciduous, and all more or 
less ornamental on account of their 
flowers. The common double Cherry, 
and the French double Cherry, de- 
serve a place in every garden ; and 
equally so do the Chinese Cherry. 
C. Pseudocerasus ; the All-Saints 
Cherry, C. semppiflbrens ; the Bird 
Cherry, C. Pddus ; the Virginian 
Bird Cherry, C. virginiana : the 
Mahaleb Plum or Cherry, C.Mahd- 
leb ; arid the Japan Cherry, C. ja- 
)>6nica, known in the nurseries as the 
double Dwarf Almond. Many of the 
plants here enumerated are known at 
some of the nurseries by the name of 
Prunus ; as P. Mahnlvb, P. Padus, 
&c. ; but in others they ate called 
Cerasus. It is necessary to know this 
to avoid buying the same plant under j 



different names. All the species grow 
in common soil, and are propagated 
by grafting or seeds. The common 
Laurel, Cerasus Laurocerasus, and 
the Portugal Laurel, Cerasus lusi- 
tdnica, which also belong to this 
genus, have showy spikes of flowers, 
and deserve culture on that account, 
independently of their shining ever- 
green leaves. 

Cerato x nia. — Leguminosce. — An 
evergreen greenhouse shrub, a native 
of the south of Europe and Asia. The 
pod is fleshy, like that of the tama- 
rind, and it is said to have been the 
food St. John fed on in the Wilder- 
ness, the seeds being called "lo- 
custs," and the pulp "wild honey." 
Hence the popular name of St. John's 
bread. It is also called the Carob 
tree. The tree is of very slow growth, 
and the flowers have no beauty ; but 
the plant is worth cultivation for its 
dark green leathery leaves. It should 
be grown in a mixture of equal parts 
of loam and peat, well drained, and 
frequently watered ; and it is propa- 
gated by cuttings of the old wood 
stuck in sand. 

Ce'rcis. — Leguminosce. — The 
Judas tree. Few trees are more or- 
namental in a shrubbery than the two 
species of this genus ; but Cercis Si- 
liqudstrum, the common kind, is 
decidedly the handsomest. The leaves 
are curiously shaped, and the flowers, 
which are of a beautiful pink, grow out 
of the bark of the stem, and branches, 
and not like those of other plants, 
among the leaves. These flowers have 
an agreeably acid taste, and when 
fried in batter make excellent fritters. 
The common Judas tree is a native of 
the Levant, and it is frequently grown 
against a wall, producing its flowers in 
April ; but the American kind, C. 
canadensis, is quite hardy. They 
both produce abundance of seeds, and 
grow best in a deep sandy loam, ra- 
ther rich than poor. 



CERl'NTHE. 



51 



chelido'nium. 



Ce^reus. — Cactacece. — The Torch 
Thistle. One of the genera into 
which the Linnsean genus Cactus is 
now divided. This genus was first 
formed by Mr. Haworth, who made 
it consist only of all the cacti that had 
long angular or round stems ; but 
modern botanists include in it those 
of the short round-stemmed porcu- 
pine cacti, that have long tube-shaped 
flowers. Of the true kinds of Cereus, 
which are still generally the only ones 
known by that name in most private 
collections and nurseries, the best 
known are C. speciosissimus, the 
crimson-flowered Torch Thistle, and 
its hybrids and varieties, the stems of 
which are erect and angular, and the 
flowers dark crimson, C. fiagelli- 
formis, the Creeping Cereus, the 
long round stems of which hang down 
like cords, and the flowers of which 
are pink, and C. grandijlorus, the 
Night-blowing Cereus, the flowers of 
which are white and yellow. The Old 
Man's Head, or Monkey Cactus, (e- 
reus senilis, is alsobecoming tolerably 
well known. All the kinds of Cereus 
only require greenhouse heat ; they 
should all be grown in loam mixed 
with pounded brick and lime rub- 
bish, in pots well drained with cin- 
ders; and they all require abundance 
of air and light. It is best to give 
them a season of rest when they have 
done flowering; and this is done by 
removing them to a colder house, and 
withholding water. If, however, they 
are continued in the same house in 
which they were flowered, the supply 
of water should be only lessened, and 
not stopped entirely. In other re- 
spects their culture resembles that of 
the other Cacti ( see Cactus). 

Ceri'nt he. — Boraginece.-- Honey- 
wort. Hardy annuals, more curious 
than beautiful, that will grow in any 
soil or situation; and which, if sown 
in spring or summer, will generally 
come into flower in about six weeks 



from the time of sowing; and if sown 
in autumn, will stand through the 
winter. 

Chalk. Carbonate of lime (see 
Earths). 

Chaivlemoly. — A species of Allium. 

Chamjebuxus. See Polygala. 

Chardi'nia. The new name for 
Xerdnthemum orientale. 

Charlwoo'dia. — Asphodelece. — 
Stately plants, nearly related to Dra- 
caena, the Dragon tree, growing well 
in a mixture of light loam and sandy 
peat, and requiring a cool part of the 
stove, or a very warm greenhouse. 
C. congesta has pale blue flowers, 
and is readily increased by cuttings 
planted under a hand-glass, without 
shortening the leaves. 

Chaste Tree. — Vitex Agnus 
Cactus, a low shrub of no beauty, 
which will grow in any common soil. 

Cheira'nthus. — Cruc'tferce. — The 
wall-flower. Well known herbaceous 
plants, which are much prized for the 
delightful odour of their flowers, 
which are produced from April to 
July. C. Chetri, the common wall- 
flower, and its varieties, both double 
and single, are in general cultivation, 
growing in any common soil ; and the 
varieties are readily increased by cut- 
tings. The best varieties are the 
double blood, the double striped, 
the double yellow, or Polish, and the 
double purple, all of which may be 
obtained from the nurserymen. C. 
alpinus is a pretty hardy little plant, 
with yellow flowers, well suited for 
giowing in pots, or on rock work. 
C. mutdbilis is a curious species from 
Madeira, requiring the greenhouse, 
and flowering from December to May. 

Chelido^nium . — Papavermece. — 
Thee ommon Celandine, or C, Majlis, 
Swallow-wort, is a hardy perennial, 
with yellow flowers, common on the 
sea- coast, and in churchyards, in 
many parts of England. It grows in 
any common soil, and is readily in- 
e 2 



chimona'nthus. 5 

creased by division of the roots, or by 
seeds, which it produces in abundance. 

Chelo v ne. — ScrophuldrinecB. — 
Handsome herbaceous plants, natives 
of North America, most of which are, 
however, now included in the genus 
Pentstemon. The four still called 
Chelone, are C. glabra, C. obliqua, 
C. Lyoni (C. major, Bot. Mag.), 
and C. nemorosa. All the species 
grow freely in light rich soil, and are 
readily increased by cuttings, suckers, 
or seeds, which in favourable seasons 
are produced in abundance. 

Chermes, or Kermes. — A scale- 
like insect that raises a kind of gall 
apple on a species of oak (Quercus 
cocci/era), and which produces a bril- 
liant scarlet dye. The true Chermes 
is a kind of coccus ; but the name was 
applied by Linnaeus to a genus of 
leaping insects known by the popular 
name of false aphides, because the 
larvae resemble those insects ; though 
in their perfect state, they have red 
bodies, and long snow-white wings. 
These insects, which are now called 
Psylla, are generally found on plants 
of the genus Pyrus ; and they may 
be known to have attacked a tree by 
the cm-ling up of its leaves, and wither- 
ing of its branches. They frequently 
attack the Pyrus or Cyddnia ja- 
ponica, and the snowy JYlespilus, 
which they destroy by sucking the 
sap out of the branches. The only 
way to get rid of them is to wash and 
brush the branches with soft soap 
and water in winter and spring. — 
See Aphis. 

Cherry. — See Cerasus. 

Cherry Bay and Cherry Laurf.l. 
— Old English names for the common 
Laurel. 

Chimona'nthus. — Calycantheas. 
— C. fragrans, the winter flower 
(Calycdnthus prcecox), and its va- 
rieties, are well deserving a place 
against a conservative wall, or in 
the conservatory ; for though hardy 



CHORO'ZEMA. 



enough to stand our winters in the 
open air, yet from their very fragrant 
flowers being produced in December, 
January, and February, they are very 
liable to be injured by the fro3t. They 
thrive in almost any soil, but prefer 
a mixture of loam and peat. They 
are readily increased by layers, and 
cuttings of the young wood, which, 
planted in sand under a bell-glass, 
strike freely. The large-flowered va- 
riety has darker and handsomer 
flowers, but they are less fragrant. 

China Aster. — See Callistephus. 

China Rose. — See Rosa. 

Chinar Tree. — The Oriental plane, 

Chinquapin. — Dwarf Chestnut. 

Chiona'nthus. — Oletnce. — C. Vir- 
ginia, the Fringe Tree, is a large 
shrub, well deserving a place in all 
peat borders, both for the beauty of 
its white fringe-like flowers, and for 
its leaves, which are often as large as 
those of Magnolia grandiflora, and 
die off of a fine rich yellow. It is 
readily increased by layers or seeds, 
and it may also be grafted or budded 
standard high on the common ash, 
when it will form a fine object for a 
lawn, or for the centre of a flower- 
bed. 

Chiro v nia. — Gentianece. — Green- 
house plants of short duration, and 
consequently requiring to be fre- 
quently raised from cuttings, which 
strike freely in peat under a hand- 
glass. C. frutescens, with rose- 
coloured flowers, and its variety, 
with white flowers, are the most de- 
sirable species, and may be easily pro- 
cured fiom the nurseries. They are 
also frequently raised from Cape 
seeds, the plants being all indigenous 
at the Cape of Good Hope. 

Choro'zema. — LeguminbscB. — 
Beautiful New Holland shrubs, thriv- 
ing well in an equal mixture of loam, 
sand, and peat. They are readily in- 
creased by cuttings iu sand under a 
bell-glass, or by seeds, which are fie- 



chrysa'nthemum. 53 chymoca'rpus. 



quently ripened in abundance. All 
the species are worth cultivating; and 
they are interesting, not only for their 
beauty, but for their name. Labil- 
lardiere had been wandering in New 
South Wales for several days in great 
distress for water, all the springs he 
found being too brackish to drink ; 
when, at last, he and his companions 
found a fresh-water spring. Near 
the spring grew some of these plants, 
which Labillardiere named Choro'ze- 
ma, from two Greek words, signify- 
ing to dance with joy from drinking. 

Christmas Rose. — See Helle'bo- 
rus. 

Christ's Thorn. — See Paliurus. 

Chrysa'nthemum.-- Composites. — 
C. si?iense, the Chinese Chrysanthe- 
mum, and its varieties, are well 
known, and have, for many years, 
attracted the attention of the cultiva- 
tor, on account of the great variety 
of their showy flowers, which are 
produced from October to December. 
They grow freely in any light rich 
soil, and are readily increased by 
suckers, division of the roots, layers, 
and cuttings, which flower the same 
year they are struck ; and they are 
some of those plants that derive great 
advantage from frequent shifting. 
When this is neglected, the stalks 
are apt to become long and weak, 
with few or no branches ; and as the 
flowers are always terminal, they are 
consequently few also. Taking off 
the points of the shoots will make 
the plants bushy, but it will have a 
tendency to prevent their flowering ; 
but repeatedly changing the pots 
always into one only a little larger, 
will not only make the plants bushy, 
but induce them to flower abundantly. 
When this mode of culture lias been 
neglected, the Chrysanthemums should 
be planted against a wall, or pegged 
down over a bed in the flower-garden; 
and by slightly protecting them dur- 
ing frosty nights, they will frequently 



continue in flower till January or 
February. The varieties are conti- 
nually changing, new ones being 
raised every year ; but nearly all the 
kinds may be classed in one or other of 
the following seven divisions, — the Ra- 
nunculus-flowered, the Incurved, the 
China Aster-flowered, the Marigold- 
flowered, the Clustered, tbe Tasseled, 
and the Quilled. The best annual 
Chrysanthemums are C. tricolor, L., 
(C. carinatum, Schou.,) with white, 
yellow, and purple flowers, and C. 
coronarium, L., with yellow flowers, 
both of which are quite hardy, and 
well worth a place in the flower- 
garden. Seeds may be procured from 
all the seedsmen. 

Chryso'coma. — Composites. — 
Goldy-Locks. Low soft-wooded shrubs 
from the Cape, with yellow flowers. 
They thrive well in a mixture of 
loam and peat, and are readily in- 
creased by cuttings. The herbaceous 
plants which were formerly included 
in this genus, are now removed to 
the genera Linosyris, Euthamia, 
and Bigelovia. These are all natives 
of North America, and all hardy 
perennials, which will grow in any 
common soil, and are speedily propa- 
gated by division of the roots. 

Chryse v is. — See Eschscholtzia. 

Chrysosple^nium. — Saxifrageee. 
— Golden Saxifiage. Herbaceous 
plants, with yellow flowers, natives of 
Britain, North America, and Nepal, 
not growing more than 4 or 5 inches 
high. They are rather difficult to 
cultivate, but succeed best in a moist 
shady situation, near a rivulet, or at 
the foot of rock-work, or in a grotto. 
They should be grown in a mixture 
of loam and peat, and are propagated 
by division of the roots. 

Chymoca'rpus.-- Tropedolece. — C. 
pcntaphyllus is the new name for 
Tropes olum pentaphyllum. The 
general appearance of the plant re- 
sembles that of Tropceolum tricolo- 



CINERARIA. 



54 



Cl'STUS. 



rum, but when examined closely, 
the flowers will be found to differ in 
their construction, and in the number 
of the little inner petals, which are 
five in TropEeolum, and only two in 
Chymocarpus. The root of the first 
also somewhat resembles a po'ato, 
and that of the last a carrot. Chy- 
mocarpus pentaphyllus is a beauti- 
ful climbing plant from Buenos Ayres, 
growing freely in sandy peat and 
loam, in the open air, if planted 
against a south wall. It grows very 
rapidly, and produces a profusion of 
red and green flowers during the whole 
summer, which, should the autumn 
be favourable, are succeeded by a 
number of black juicy berries, which, 
in flavour and appearance, are not 
unlike the Zante grape. It grows 
freely from seeds, if sown in a gentle 
heat immediately they are ripe, and 
may be increased by cuttings, or divi- 
sion of the roots. When it is grown 
in a pot, care must be taken not to 
over-water it, when the stems have 
died down in the autumn. "When 
trained over a wire frame, it makes a 
splendid show when in flower, or 
fruit. 

Cinchona. — See Luci/lia. 

CinerVria. — Composites. — The 
Cape Aster. The half-shrubby plants 
belonging to this genus are all of 
easy culture, and hybridize freely 
with each other ; and when it is 
added that they produce a great 
abundance of showy flowers, it will 
not appear surprising that ihey are in 
general cultivation. They are nearly 
hardy, but are always grown in pots, 
as they flower so early in the season, 
that in the open ground their flower- 
buds would be liable to be nipped by 
frost. They are grown in light rich 
soil, and only require ordinary atten- 
tion in watering. They are propa- 
gated by dividing the roots in August, 
by cuttings struck in autumn, or by 
seeds, which they ripen in abundance. 



The seed should be sown in May, on 
a slight hotbed, and the young plants 
pricked out into small pots, and 
shifted frequently during the summer. 
If they are wanted to flower in De- 
cember, they should be kept in the 
greenhouse all the year, and they will 
hegin to throw up their flower-stalks 
in October ; but if they are not wanted 
to flower before April, the usual time 
of their flowering, they may stand in 
the open air, and need not he shifted 
above three or four times during the 
summer; and in October they may 
be put into a cold pit, where they 
may remain, just protected from the 
frost till March, when they will begin 
to send up their flower-stalks. Nearly 
all the beautiful purple-flowered kinds 
are varieties of hybrids of C. cruenta, 
a native of the Canaries. The finest 
hybrids are C. Waterhousiana, C. 
Hendersonii, and the kind called 
the King. 

The herbaceous species of Cineraria 
have nearly all yellow flowers, and 
many of them are natives of Europe. 
They should be grown in rather light 
soil, and they are propagated by divi- 
sion of the root. C. aurea, with 
golden yellow flowers, a native of 
Siberia, is one of the handsomest spe- 
cies. Professor De Candolle, in his 
late arrangement of the Composite, 
has removed most of the plants for- 
merly included in the genus Cinera- 
ria, to Senecio. 

Cjrca. v a. — Onagraceos. — Enchan- 
ter's Nightshade. A pretty little 
British plant, growing in any soil and 
situation. 

Ci'stus. — Cistinece. — The Rock 
Rose. Beautiful hardy and half- 
hardy shrubs, which grow freely in a 
mixture of loam and peat, and are 
readily increased by cuttings planted 
under a hand-glass, layers, or seeds, 
which are ripened in abundance. 
Most of the species are of low growth, 
and are generally used for rock- work ; 



Cl'TRUS. 



55 



cleo'me. 



but some are tall handsome shrubs, 
such as the Gum Cistus (C. cype- 
rius and C. ladamferus\ and the 
purple-flowered Cistus (C. purpu- 
reus). The dwarf kinds being ge- 
nerally rather tender, will require a 
slight protection during severe winters, 
when they are planted out on rock- 
work. 

Ci'trus, L. — AurantiacecB. — The 
genus Citrus includes oranges, le- 
mons, limes, citrons, shaddocks, &c, 
all well deserving cultivation, both 
for their flowers and their fruit, but 
of which only a few kinds of oranges 
and lemons are generally growu. 
They all thrive well in a mixture of 
rich loam with a little rotten dung ; 
but great care is necessary not to over- 
pot them, or give them too much water 
when not in a growing state. On the 
Continent, they are indeed frequently 
kept during winter in a cellar, almost 
without either light or water, and 
brought into the open air during sum- 
mer. The different species and va- 
rieties are generally propagated by 
budding, grafting, and inarching on 
the common lemon, which grows 
readily from seed. The best time to 
do this is in February or March, 
when the grafts, &c. will take well, 
and in a very short time ; and if 
grafted on good strong stalks, they 
will make handsome plants by the 
autumn. As soon as the grafting 
or budding has been performed, the 
plants should be set in a close 
frame on a moderate hotbed ; but 
not plunged into it, as, from the 
tenderness of their routs, that might 
injure them. Oranges are also fre- 
quently raised from seeds ; but unless 
they are budded or grafted when 
about two years old, it will be 
many years before they flower. Orange 
trees may also be propagated by cut- 
tings, which are best of the old wood, 
struck in sand in a gentle bottom 
heat, and shaded. Plants raised in 



this manner flower and fruit much 
sooner than any others, but they 
scarcely ever attain a large size. 

Cla'rkta. — Onagracece. — Beauti- 
ful hardy annuals, with rose-coloured, 
white, and purple flowers, natives of 
California, requiring the same treat- 
ment as the other Calif'ornian annuals. 
They may, however, be sown in spring ; 
and as, when this is the case, they are 
apt to become drawn up, the general 
appearance of the bed is much im- 
proved by sowing mignionette with 
the Clarkia seeds in March or April. 

Clary. — See Salvia. 

Clay. — (See Earths.) 

Clayto'nia. — PortulaceoB. — 
Hardy herbaceous plants, someannual 
and some perennial, with pretty pink 
and white flowers, but having rather 
a weedy appearance. They grow best 
in a peat border, and are increased 
by seeds, which sometimes ripen in 
abundance. 

Clf/matis. — Ranunculacece. — - 
Half-hardy and hardy climbers ; shrub- 
by and herbaceous ; with white and 
purple flowers. They are all most 
desirable plants, of the easiest culture 
in any light rich soil ; and readily 
propagated . by cuttings of the young 
wood, or seeds, which are frequently 
ripened plentifully. C. florida, with 
white flowers ; C. Sieboldtii, with 
white and purple flowers, and C. ece- 
liilea, with beautiful violet blue 
flowers, are among the handsomest of 
conservatory climbers, and when 
planted out in the open air, with their 
roots protected, they frequently come 
into blossom early in March. C. 
viticella, and its varieties, C.Jidm- 
mula, C. Hendersbiiii, and C. cy- 
lindrica are all quite hardy, and 
form most beautiful objects when 
trained over lattice-work, or baskets 
in the flower-garden ; and no garden, 
however small, ought to be without 
one or more of these species. 

Cleo'me. — Capparidece. — Splen- 



clia'nthus. 



56 



CLIMATE. 



did stove shrubs, annuals, and bien- 
nials, with one or two half-hardy 
annuals, with white, rose, and purple 
flowers, of easy culture in any light 
rich soil. 

Clerode'ndrum — Verbenacece. — 
Very ornamental stove shrubs, chiefly 
natives of the Tropics. They all 
grow freely in a light rich soil, com- 
posed of two parts of loam, one of 
rotten dung, and one of peat. They 
require frequent shifting from small 
pots to larger ones, to make them 
flower freely. They strike readily 
from cuttings of the young wood 
planted under a hand-glass ; or cut- 
tings of the roots planted in a pot, 
with their tops just above the surface 
of the mould, and plunged in a hot- 
bed, will root readily. The most de- 
sirable species are C. fragrans, with 
pink flowers ; C. paniculatum and 
C. squamatum, with scarlet flowers, 
and C. macrophyllum, with white 
flowers. Several of the species were 
formerly called Volkameria. 

Cle v thra. — Ericece. — Hardy and 
half-hardy shrubs, with white flowers ; 
of which C. arborea forms a very 
handsome small tree, when planted 
out in the free soil in a conservatory, 
or in a sheltered situation in the open 
air, producing a great profusion of 
spikes of white flowers from August 
to October. All the species thrive 
well in a mixture of loam and peat, 
and they are all readily increased by 
layers, cuttings, or seeds. 

Clia'nthus. — LegumxnosecB. — C. 
puniceus, the crimson Glory Pea, is a 
magnificent half-hardy shrub, with 
brightcrimson flowers ; anative of New 
Zealand. It grows very freely in rich 
loam, if its roots are allowed sufficient 
room ; and it generally thrives most 
when planted against the back wall of 
a conservatory, or against a south 
wall in the open air, requiring only 
the protection of a mat in winter. 
Cuttings planted in pots in the au- 



tumn, and kept in a shady part of the 
greenhouse, will be rooted by the 
spring, when they may be planted in 
the open border. It is a plant that 
rarely flowers well in a pot ; as it re- 
quires abundance of room for its roots, 
and grows rapidly, with rather succu- 
lent shoots, requiring abundance of 
water during the growing season, and 
very little at any other time. When 
grown in the open ground, the juicy 
nature of its shoots renders it a fa- 
vourite food for snails ; and when 
kept in the conservatory, or green- 
house, it is very apt to be attacked by 
the red spider. If these enemies be 
kept away, and the plant be grown in 
rich soil, composed of equal parts of 
loam and thoroughly rotten manure, 
and well supplied with air, light, and 
water, with abundance of room for its 
roots, the rapidity of its growth, and 
the splendour of its flowers, will al- 
most surpass belief ; but unless these 
points are attended to, the plant is 
scarcely worth growing. 

Climate is the grand regulator of 
vegetable culture ; and the garden 
and landscape scenery of every coun- 
try depends far more on the climate 
of that country than on its soil. In 
modern times the climates of all other 
countries are imitated by hothouses ; 
a practice scarcely, if at all, known to 
the ancients. In imitating a climate, 
it is not only necessary to attend to 
temperature, but equally so to light, 
and, to a certain extent, to the mois- 
ture of the atmosphere, and to the 
motion of the air and its change. 
Heat is communicated to plant-struc- 
tures by the decomposition of ferment- 
ing substances, and by the combus- 
tion of fuel, operating by means of 
smoke or heated air in flues, or by 
water circulated in pipes, either in a 
fluid state, or in an aeriform state, a3 
steam ; or by the heat of the sun 
passing through glass, and heating air 
which is not allowed to escape. The 



CLIMBING PLANTS. 



57 



CLINTONIA. 



last mode is never wanting, whichever 
of the former modes may be adopted. 
The moisture of the atmosphere in 
plant-structures is maintained by 
watering the plants ; and by keeping 
the surface of the ground and floor 
more or less moistened with water, 
according to the height of the tempe- 
rature. The motion of the air is not 
in general considered of great import- 
ance, and is generally only effected in 
fine days when the house can be 
opened, and the external air freely 
admitted ; but a mode of heating has 
recently been invented by Mr. Penn, 
of Lewisham, by which means a per- 
petual circulation of air is kept up 
night and day ; and which, indepen- 
dently altogether of its effect on the 
plants, so lessens the feeling of heat 
to the human frame, that the tempe- 
rature of eighty degrees in houses 
where the air is charged with mois- 
ture, is found to be as agreeable as 
that of sixty degrees, the common 
temperature of comfortable living- 
rooms. 

Climbing Plants are those plants 
that raise themselves from the ground 
by attaching themselves to whatever 
objects may be near them. One class 
of climbers attach themselves by ten- 
drils, such as the vine, and the pas- 
sion flower ; others by the footstalks 
of leaves, as in the nasturtium, and 
some species of clematis ; another class 
twine their stems round objects, such 
as the convolvulus ; while some at- 
tach themselves by small root-like 
bodies, such as the common ivy, and 
the Ampelopsis, or Virginian creeper ; 
and others raise themselves by as- 
cending through other plants, such as 
the common nightshade in hedges, or 
the plant called the Duke of Argyle's 
tea-tree, Lycium bdrbarum. The 
twiners may be supported by single 
rods ; but all the others, excepting 
those which support themselves in the 
manner of the ivy, require branched 



stakes, such as the sticks put into 
rows of peas ; while plants of the na- 
ture of ivy, require a wall, a rock, or 
the rugged trunk of a tree. In gene- 
ral, all climbing plants, when they are 
not furnished with the means of rais- 
ing themselves np, extend their shoots 
along the surface of the ground, when 
they become what are called trailers, 
or they root into it like the ivy, and 
become what are called creepers. 
Climbing plants are of singular use in 
gardening for covering walls, orna- 
menting trellis-work, arcades, veran- 
das, or ornamental props, in the form 
of cones, pyramids, parasols, &c. 

CliVea. — Amaryllidaceos. — An 
imperfect bulb, or leek-rooted plant, 
of easy culture in the greenhouse in 
loamy soil ; it preserves its deep green 
foliage all the year, and sends up 
strong stems bearing red and yellow 
flowers from May to August. 

Clinto'nia. — LobeliacecB. — Beau- 
tiful little annuals, flowering profusely 
the whole summer. They are na- 
tives of California, but will bear heat 
better than the generality of annuals 
from that country. They are gene- 
rally raised on a hotbed (the seeds 
being sown in February), and planted 
out in May ; but they may be sown 
in the open border in April. They 
require a very rich soil, consisting of 
one part of sandy loam, two of vege- 
table mould, and one of rotten ma- 
nure ; or, where vegetable mould can- 
not readily be procured, of equal parts 
of sandy loam and manure ; and they 
should be constantly watered while 
they are growing. The seed pod is 
below the flower, and looks like its 
footstalk. If the seeds are sown in 
pots as soon as they are ripe, and kept 
in shelter all the winter, they will be 
ready for planting out into beds or 
boxes, for a veranda or balcony, in 
March or April, and they will be bril- 
liantly in flower by May ; and if con- 
stantly watered, they will continue to 



CLIPPING. 



58 



COB.EA. 



produce a succession of blossoms, till 
the plants are destroyed by frost. 

Clipping or shearing plants was a 
very common practice in gardens with 
all shrubs, many trees, and even fruit- 
bearing bushes, such as the gooseberry 
and currant, from the earliest times 
up to the commencement of the last 
century ; but it is now chiefly confined 
to hedges and edgings. Evergreen 
hedges, such as those of holly, yew, 
and box, are generally clipped about 
midsummer ; and this is also the sea- 
son for clipping box edgings. Deci- 
duous hedges, such as those of the 
common thorn, may either be clipped 
immediately after midsummer, or 
during winter ; as, during the latter 
season, the sap is in a great measure 
dormant, and the wounded points of 
the shoots are the less liable to be 
injured by frosts. In general, both 
evergreen and deciduous hedges and 
edgings may be clipped at any period 
after the growth for the season is com- 
pleted ; hut if cut or clipped before 
that takes place, the amputated shoots 
are apt to make a second growth, 
which thickens too much the surface 
of the hedge, and by excluding the 
air, ends by causing the decay of the 
interior branches. Broad-leaved 
plants used as hedges, such as the 
common laurel, should be cut with 
the knife by hand ; as when the large 
leaves are cut through, the appearance 
of the hedge afterwards is mutilated 
and unsightly. Holly hedges are also 
hest cut by hand. Privet, yew, and 
hox hedges may always be clipped. 
Thorn hedges, in the best agricultural 
districts, are generally cut with a 
hedgebill ; and the stroke is always 
made upwards, in order not to fracture 
the shoots ; as breaking them, by ad- 
mitting moisture, causes them to de- 
cay at the points, and also stimulates 
them to produce small shoots, which 
thicken the hedge too much at the 
surface. There are two kinds of shears 



for cutting hedges ; the common kind, 
in which the two blades work on a 
fixed pivot, and make a crushing cut 
which bruises the shoot ; and the 
pruning-shears, in which the pivot is 
fixed into one blade, and the other 
moves over it in a groove, in conse- 
quence of which a draw-cut is pro- 
duced in the same manner, as if the 
hedge had been cut by hand with a 
knife. All hedges, and especially all 
garden hedges, should be cut by this 
kind of shears. 

Clothing the Stems of Trees is a 
practice resorted to with half-hardy 
species, such as some kinds of Magno- 
lia, for the purpose of preserving vita- 
lity in the lower part of the stem, and 
the collar or neck of the tree, by ex- 
cluding the cold, and throwing off the 
rain ; because it is found that the seat 
of life in all plants is chiefly in the 
collar, and consequently, that a tree 
may have all its branches killed, and 
all its roots, excepting a part of the 
trunk next the collar, and a part of 
the main roots below it, and yet live. 
The best kind of clothing is wheat 
straw, or long slips of bark ; and these 
ought to be spread out at the base of 
the trunk, so as to throw off the rain 
to a foot or two of distance from the 
collar. 

Cobvea. — Cohacece, or Polemo- 
nacece. — C. scandens is a climbing 
plant of very rapid growth, and pro- 
ducing abundance of large bell-shaped 
flowers, which are first green, but 
afterwards become purple. The plant, 
if allowed plenty of room for its roots, 
and grown in a rich sandy loam, will 
extend along a wall or trellis, thirty 
or forty feet, in the course of a single 
summer. When it is wanted to co- 
ver any broad space, the points of the 
shoots should be repeatedly pinched 
off,tomake it throwout lateral shoots; 
and these should be trained to cover 
the bare places. When the wall is 
rough, the plant will adhere to it by 



COB^A. 



59 



COCCULUS. 



means of its own tendrils ; but it is ge- j 
neraily better either to nail it, or to tie ' 
it to any projecting parts with strands 
of bast-mat. The roots may be either 
in the open ground, in the free soil of | 
the conservatory, or in a pot; hut in 
the latter case they should be allowed 
abundance of room, and the pot 
should be well drained. The plant 
may also be treated either as an an- 
nual, a biennial, or a perennial, ac- 
cording to convenience. When treated 
as an annual, the seeds should be 
sown on a hotbed in February ; and 
the plants should be transplanted into 
pots, and afterwards into the open 
ground, where they are to flower, in 
April or May. When the plant is 
grown as a biennial, the seeds should 
be sown as soon as they are ripe in 
pots, and the young plants should be 
kept under shelter in a room or green- 
house during winter, transplanting 
them two or three times, till spring, 
when they should be removed to the 
open ground, or to a larger pot, for 
flowering. It may also be treated as 
a perennial, when cuttings should be 
struck in autumn under a bell-glass, 
and the pots plunged into a hotbed or 
tan-pit ; or, if the plants be growing in 
the open air, layers may be made by 
pegging down the lower shoots of the 
growing plants on the ground, and 
leaving them in the open garden ; 
only taking care to protect them, after 
they are separated from the parent 
plant, by a hand-glass during winter. 
Till lately, C. scandens was the 
only species of the genus known ; but 
in the autumn of 1H39, and the spring 
of 1840, some other species have been 
raised from Mexican seeds sent home 
by Mr. Hartweg, one of the botanical 
collectors employed to collect new 
plants by the London Horticultural 
Society. The common Cobsea is also 
a native of Mexico, where it is called 
by a Spanish name, signifying the 
violet-bearing Ivy. 



Coccinella. — Under this name na- 
turalists distinguish the little beetles 
generally called lady-birds, or lady- 
cows. They creep slowly when in 
their perfect state, and they are gene- 
rally found on the ground ; and though 
they fly fast and well, they are rarely 
seen on the wing. They do no in- 
jury to plants, either in their larva or 
their perfect state ; and when the per- 
fect beetle is found on a plant, it is 
to find a place where it can lay its 
eggs. Instinct teaches it to visit 
those plants most infested with aphides, 
for it is on these noxious insects that 
the larva of the lady-bird feeds ; and 
consequently, the eggs of that insect, 
which are of a bright yellow, are al- 
ways found on the leaves of shoots 
the points of which are covered with 
the green fly. The larvae are flattish, 
fleshy grubs, tapering to the tail ; they 
have six legs, and are very active. 
Some years lady- birds are much more 
numerous than in others ; but their 
numbers are always found to bear a 
proportion to those of the aphides on 
which they feed. In France and 
Germany, no peasant will kill them, 
because they are considered to be sa- 
cred to the Holy Virgin ; whence, no 
doubt, they have received the name 
of lady - bird. When these insects are 
caught, they fold up their legs, and 
emit a yellow fluid from their joints, 
which has a very unpleasant smell ; 
but which is so far from being injuri- 
ous, that it is considered a remedy for 
the tooth-ache. Sometimes the coun- 
try people even crush the poor beetle, 
and apply it to a hollow tooth, to pre- 
vent it from aching ; and thus, as 
in many other cases, in the hope of 
an imaginary good, they do them- 
selves a real evil ; as of course, it is 
the interest of all amateurs of garden- 
ing, and particularly all lovers of 
roses, to protect the lady-birds. 

Cocculus. — Menispermacea. — 
Climbing stove plants, with greenish 



co'lchicum. 



60 



COLLI 'NSIA. 



white flowers and red berries. One 
or two species will grow in the open 
air. The soil should be loam and 
peat, and the roots should be allowed 
plenty of room. 

Coccus. — The scale-insect. These 
insects are troublesome on many 
plants ; but more so in the kitchen- 
garden, on the vine and pine-apple, 
than on flowering plants. One spe- 
cies of Coccus infests the Opuntia, 
and is what we call cochineal ; and 
another on a kind of fig-tree in India, 
produces the substance we call shell 
lac, which is used in making sealing- 
wax. The only cure for these insects 
is brushing them off, and washing the 
branches affected with soft soap and 
water. 

Cochineal Fig. — See Opuntia. 

Cockscomb. — See Celosia. 

Cockspur-thorn. — See Crataegus. 

Coffea. — Cinchonacece, or Ru- 
biacece. — The Coffee-tree, in Eng- 
land, becomes a stove-shrub, which 
should be grown in loam and peat, in 
pots well drained, and sufficiently 
large to allow of plenty of room for 
its roots. The flowers, which appear 
in August or September, are white 
and sweet-scented, and the fruit is 
round, and of a brilliant scarlet, in- 
closing two closely-packed seeds, 
which are the coffee. If the plant is 
kept well watered, it will flower every 
year, and the seeds will often ripen in 
England ; but the coffee made from 
them is very inferior to even the 
worst of that ripened in the tropics. 
The coffee-tree, being a native of 
Arabia, requires a dry heat when it is 
in a growing state, and only a mo- 
derate degree of warmth in winter. 
When kept in a moist stove, without 
a free circulation of air, the leaves be- 
come mildewed and infected with 
insects. 

Co'lchicum. — Melanthacece. — 
Meadow Saffron. A hardy bulbous- 
rooted plant, which will grow in any 



common soil. The flowers come up 
through the ground without the leaves 
in autumn, and closely resemble those 
of the crocus. The leaves do not 
appear till the following spring, and 
great care should be taken of them ; 
as if they should be injured, so as to 
prevent them from exercising their 
proper functions in maturing the sap, 
the bulb will not flower the next 
autumn. An extract of Colchicum is 
given in medicine for the rheumatism 
and the sout ; and it is said to form 
the basis of the celebrated eau medi- 
cinale. It is, however, poisonous, if 
taken in large quantities. 

Cold Houses for Plants are not 
generally in use, though it is a com- 
mon practice with gardeners to re- 
move plants from hothouses into the 
back sheds, in order to retard their 
blossoming or the ripening of their 
fruit. It is also the practice in some 
! countries to place pots of fruit-bear- 
ing or flowering shrubs, in ice-houses, 
so as to keep them dormant through 
' the summer; and in autumn to re- 
move them to forcing-bouses, where, 
in consequence of having been so long 
j in a state of rest, they grow with 
great rapidity, and come into flower 
much sooner than if they had not 
been so long retarded. Bulbs are 
also retarded in a similar manner ; 
and even nosegays are placed in ice- 
houses in Italy and other warm coun- 
tries, when it is wished to retard their 
deeay for particular occasions. 
Colic Root. — See Alectris. 
Colli'nsia.— ScrophularinecB. — 
j Californian annuals, of great beauty, 
' and well deserving cultivation. The 
| handsomest species are C. bicolor, 
I and C. heterophylla, which are very 
! nearly allied ; and which, if sown in 
! autumn, and grown in rich loamy 
soil, will grow two feet high, and will 
produce splendid spikes of flowers. 
C. grandiflora and C. verna are 
also very nearly allied, if not the 



commeli'na. 



61 



COMPOST. 



same, and they are smaller plants, 
with rather small, but bright-coloured 
flowers. They grow best in stiff clay. 
For the general culture of the genus, 
see Californian Annuals. 

Collo v mia. — Polemoniacece. — 
Hardy annuals, natives of Cali- 
fornia, but scarcely worth growing, 
from their coarse and weedy appear- 
ance. C. coccinea is, perhaps, the best. 

Coltsfoot. — See Tussila'go. 

Columbine. — See AquileVjia. 

Colu v tea. — Leguminosece. — The 
Bladder Senna. Large deciduous 
hardy shrubs, growing and flowering 
freely in any common soil. C. om- 
enta is the smallest and the hand- 
somest species. They are all propa- 
gated by layers or cuttings. 

CombreVum. — Combretacece. — 
Splendid climbing stove-shrubs, na- 
tives of Sierra Leone, where they sup- 
port themselves by means of a very 
curious kind of hook, formed by the 
persistent footstalks of the withered 
leaves. The principal kinds are C. 
purpureum, C. comosum, and C. 
grandiflbrum. They are all very 
beautiful, and all require to be grown 
in a mixture of loam and peat. They 
are propagated by cuttings or layers. 
Though generally grown in a stove, 
they may be made to flower in a 
greenhouse, or in the open air. See 
Allamanda. 

Commeli^na. — CornmelmecB. — Pe- 
rennial and annual plants, hardy and 
tender, with beautiful bright blue 
flowers. C. ccelestis, L., has tuberous 
roots, but it may be raised from seed, 
by sowing it in a hotbed early in the 
season, and turning it out into the 
open border in common garden soil, 
tolerably rich, during the summer ; 
and in autumn its tuberous roots may 
be taken up, and preserved during the 
winter, to be replanted in the open 
ground in spring ; or they may be 
protected by covering the ground with 
ashes or sand. 



Cona'nthera. — Asphodelacece. — 
Chilian bulbs, requiring the green- 
house ; useful from their small sta- 
ture, which seldom exceeds six inches, 
and from their producing their blue 
flowers in March. 

Composite. — The composite flow- 
ers, such as the daisy, are in fact 
heads of flowers, composed of hun- 
dreds of little flowers or florets, as 
they are called by botanists, each of 
which has its corolla, stamens, pistil, 
and fruit. The central part, which 
in the daisy is yellow, is called the 
disk, and the florets composing it are 
nearly tubular ; while the outer part, 
whicl in the daisy is white, is called 
the ray, and its florets are ligulate, or 
flat and open at the extremity, and 
tubular at the base. In many species, 
the seeds are crowned with a kind of 
feathery wing, like those of the Dan- 
delion, which botanists call the pappus. 

Compost-Ground. — A space in 
some secluded part of a garden, near 
the hothouses and pits, and near the 
tool-house and reserve ground, in 
which differentkinds of soils, manures, 
and composts are prepared and kept. 
Though secluded, it should not be 
shaded altogether from the sun ; and 
the ground should be drained, in 
order that the manure, &c, may not 
be soaked with moisture. 

Compost. — This word is applied to 
any soil that is composed of several 
different ingredients ; such as sand, 
loam, and peat, or vegetable mould, 
&c. These mixed soils are found to 
be much better for plants than any 
soil consisting of only one material ; 
and thus, whenever choice plants are 
to be grown, directions are generally 
given for making a compost for them. 
In all large gardens, heaps of several 
different kinds of earths are kept in 
the reserve ground, ready for mixing 
as they may be required ; but in 
small suburban gardens, peat, loam, 
and sand will suffice. These st>ils 



CONSERVATIVE WALL. 



CONSERVATORY. 



may be bought in small quantities 
from the London nurserymen, say 
sixpenny worth or a shilling's worth 
of each; and they may be kept in 
large pots in a back shed, for mixing 
as required. 

Conservative Wall. — Many 
greenhouse and some hothouse plants, 
particularly such as are deciduous, 
and are naturally of rapid and vigor- 
ous growth, are found to succeed re- 
markably well when planted, out 
during the summer season in the 
open garden, either as standards, or 
against a wall. Those which are 
planted as standards or bushes in the 
open beds or border?, grow vigorously 
during the months of June, July, and 
August, but require to be taken up 
in September, and preserved during 
the winter in pots or boxes, for plant- 
ing out next season. This is prac- 
tised with Fuchsias, Brugmansias, 
Pelargoniums, and similar plants. 
Other shrubs are planted against a 
wall with a southern exposure ; and 
those not only grow and sometimes 
flower during the summer, but if pro- 
tected during the winter with matting, 
or a projecting roof, or both, they 
will live for several years, growing 
vigorously, and flowering every sea- 
son. The common myrtle, some of 
the Acacias, the Eucalypti, and a num- 
ber of the rapid-growing New Holland 
shrubs, are so treated with great suc- 
cess ; and the fine appearance which 
they make in the summer season, 
amply repays the expense and trouble 
which must be taken with them. 
There is scarcely any limit to the 
number and kinds of shrubs which 
may be treated in this way ; for while 
the taller and more rapid-growing 
kinds are made to cover the upper 
part of the wall, the dwarfer species 
may be trained against the lower 
part, and herbaceous plants, including 
bulbs, may be planted all along the 
base. The border in which the plants 



are grown should be of light sandy 
soil, of no great depth ; and it would 
be an advantage to thatch it during 
the winter season, to carry off the rain 
to a distance from the roots of the 
plants. The drier all half-hardy 
plants are kept in the open ground, 
the better, excepting during the grow- 
ing and flowering season ; in order 
that the plants may make no more 
wood than what they can thoroughly 
ripen. Walls used for purposes of 
this kind are called conservative 
walls; and next to conservatories, they 
form the most interesting scenes to 
the lovers of plants in an ornamental 
garden. 

Conservatory. — This term origi- 
nally implied a house in which orange- 
trees, and other large shrubs, or 
small trees, were preserved from frost 
during the winter ; but at present it 
is applied to houses with glass roofs, 
in which the plants are grown in the 
free soil, and allowed to assume their 
natural shapes and habits of growth. 
A conservatory is generally situated 
so as to be entered from one of the 
rooms of the house to which it be- 
longs ; and from which it is often 
separated only by a glass door, or by 
a small lobby with glass doors. It 
should, if possible, have one side 
facing the south ; but if it is glazed on 
every side, it may have any aspect, 
not even excepting the north ; though 
in the latter case, it will only be 
suitable for very strong leathery- 
leaved evergreens, such as Camellias, 
Myrtles, &c. The bed for the plants 
should be of sandy loam (that being 
the soil that will suit most plants), 
two or three feet deep, and thoroughly 
drained. The plants should be of 
kinds that will grow in a few years 
nearly as high as the glass : and they 
should, as much as possible, be all of 
the same degree of vigour, otherwise 
the stronger kinds will fill the soil 
with their roots, and overpower the 



CONVOLVULUS. 



C3 



CORMS. 



weaker. Tliis, to a certain extent, 
takes place in all conservatories, and 
is unavoidable. The only remedy for 
the evil, is occasionally to cut in the 
large roots of the stronger plants, and 
prune in their tops, and every six or 
seven years to take up all the plants, 
excepting, perhaps, some of the 
climbers, and to renew the soil, and 
re-plant either with the same or with 
other plants, or with part of both. 
The pillars which support the roof, 
and, to a certain extent, the under side 
of the rafters, may be clothed with 
creepers; but great care must be 
taken that these do not exclude too 
mucli light from the plants beneath 
them, which may always be known 
by the etiolated sickly appearance of 
the latter. The most suitable plants 
for conservatories are those that 
flower in the winter season, or very 
early in spring ; such as the Acacias, 
Camellias, Melaleucas, Metrosideroses, 
Banksias, Oleanders, &c. ; and for 
climbers, the Kennedias, Zychyas, 
Hardenbergias, Bignonias, Tecomas, 
Ipomaeas, Cobsea, Passifloras, Tacso- 
nia, Clematises, &c. 

Convalla'ria — Smilacea. — The 
Lily of the Valley. A well. known 
and very fragrant little flower, re- 
quiring a shady situation, and rather 
a moist soil, which should be tolerably 
light. The plant will grow under 
the drip of trees, and it is increased 
by dividing the root. 

Convolvulus. — Convolvulacece. 
— Well-known splendid climbing 
plants, hardy and half-hardy, annual 
and perennial. They all requite a 
rich but light soil, and will grow 
well in a compost of equal parts of 
heath mould and loam, enriched with 
about the proportion of a fourth part 
to the whole, of decayed leaves, or 
thoroughly rotten manure; and they 
should be trained against stakes or 
trellis-work, as their stems are too 
feeble to support themselves. Most 



of the tender kinds of Convolvulus 
were separated from it by Linnaeus, 
and formed into the genus Ipomcea. 
All the stove kinds may be made to 
flower in the open air, during sum- 
mer, by contriving to keep the roots 
in heat (see Allamanda) ; and the 
hardy species only require sowing in 
the open ground. 

Coral trf.e. — See Erythrina. 

Corbularia. — Mr. Haworth's 
name for one of the new genera he 
formed out of Narcissus. 

Co'rchorus. — Tiliacece. — Hot- 
house plants, not sufficiently orna- 
mental to be worthy of general culti- 
vation. For the well-known Japan 
half-hardy shrub, generally called 
Corchorus, see Kerria. 

Coreo'psis. — Composites. — Most 
of the showy annuals formerly known 
by this name, are now called Calliop- 
sis, while most of the perennial spe- 
cies are still left iu the former genus. 
For the difference between the deri- 
vation of the two names, and the 
culture of the annual species, see 
Calliopsis. The perennial kinds are 
quite hardy ; but as they are tall- 
growing spreading plants, they require 
a great deal of room, and should be 
planted at the back of the borders. 
They will grow in any common soil ; 
atid they are propagated by division of 
the roots. 

Coria^ria — Coriacece. — The myr- 
tle-leaved Sumach. A dwarf shrub, 
with handsome leaves, and but small 
flowers. Jt will grow in any com- 
mon soil, and is increased by division 
of the roots. 

Corms. — Solid bulbs, such as the 
Crocus, the different kinds of Moraeas, 
Babianas, and most of the Iridaceaj. 
Bulbs are of three kinds : those which 
have a number of coats, or skins, one 
within the other, like the Hyacinth, 
which are called tunicated bulbs ; 
those which consist of a number of 
scales, only attached at the base, like 



CORNUS. 



64 



CORR.EA. 



the Lily ; and those which are only a 
solid mass of feculent matter, and 
which are called Corms, and which 
Dr. Lindley does not allow to be 
bulbs, but calls underground stems. 
Corms do not require taking up so 
often as bulbs ; and when they are 
intended to remain for several years 
in the ground, they should be planted 
from four to six inches deep at first ; 
as every year a new conn will form 
above the old one ; and thus, if 
planted too near the surface, the corm, 
in a few years, will be pushed out of 
the ground. 

Corn Cocklf. — See Githago. 

Cornelian Cherry. — See Cornus. 

Corn Flag. — See Gladiolus. 

Cobnus. — Cornacece The Dog- 
wood. Well-known shrubs, with 
whitish or yellowish flowers, and dark 
purple berries. The species are ge- 
nerally ornamental, from the shining 
red bark of their branches in winter, 
and the intensely dark purplish red 
of their leaves in autumn. One 
species, Cornus mas, the Cornelian 
Cherry-tree, a native of Europe, is 
remarkable for the large size and 
brilliant colour of its fruit ; and 
another, a native of North America, 
Cornus Jlorida, for the large size of 
its flowers, or rather for that of the 
involucres, or floral leaves, which sur- 
round its flowers, and which are of a 
brilliant white inside, and tinged with 
violet on the outside. All the spe- 
cies are remarkable for the hardness 
of their wood, and for the great length 
of time which their seeds will remain 
in the ground before they come up. 
On this account, when any kind of 
Cornus is to be raised from seed, the 
seeds should be steeped in water be- 
fore sowing ; but, generally speaking, 
all the kinds are propagated by layers 
or cuttings of the old wood, both of 
which strike root freely. C. flo- 
rida is generally grown in peat, in a 
sheltered situation, and thrives best 



where its roots are kept in the shade ; 
but unless its foliage is fully exposed 
to the influence of the sun, it will 
not flower. Travellers in North 
America describe what are called there 
the Dog-woods, as vast forests of this 
tree, about twelve feet high, with 
their branches so interlaced as to pre- 
vent a gleam of sunshine from reach- 
ing their roots. 

Coroni'lla. — Leguminosae. — 
Ornamental shrubs, hardy and half- 
hardy, with bright yellow flowers, 
and pinnate leaves. C. Emerus, the 
Scorpion Senna, a native of the South 
of Europe, and the commonest and 
hardiest species, has the flower-buds 
red, and the expanded flowers of a 
bright yellow. It will grow in any 
soil or situation, and, as it will bear 
clipping without much injury, it may- 
be grown as a hedge- plant. It will 
grow in any garden soil, and is propa- 
gated by cuttings of the ripe wood or 
layers. C. glauca, which is a native 
of France, has bluish-green leaves, 
and yellow flowers, which are fragrant 
during the day, but lose their scent at 
night. It flowers early and freely, 
and though generally kept in the 
greenhouse, it is very nearly hardy. 
The soil should be a sandy loam, 
mixed with a fourth part of vegetable 
mould, or rotten manure ; and the 
pots should be well drained. It is 
propagated by seeds, which it ripens 
in abundance, or by cuttings in sand, 
under a bell-glass. 

Corr^a. — Rutacea. — Dwarf 
greenhouse shrubs, with leathery- 
leaves, which are generally either 
brown or white on the under surface. 
The flowers are tubular ; those of C. 
alba, and C. rufa, which are white, 
being much less so than the others. 
Several new species, or hybrids, have 
been introduced since 1835 ; but they 
appear most nearly allied to C. spe- 
ciosa. All the species and varieties 
flower abundantly ; producing in a 



CORYSA'NTHUS. 



65 



COTYLEDON. 



greenhouse a constant succession of 
flowers from November to June. They 
require an airy, but a somewhat 
shaded, situation. The pots should 
be well drained, and the soil should 
be heath mould, mixed with a little 
loam. 

Corya / nthes. — Orchidacece. — 
Helmet-flower. — C. macrdntha, 
Lindl. — {Gongbra meter antha, H.) 
has a most singular red and yellow 
flower, part of which resembles a 
skeleton's head, with the vertebrae 
of the neck, and part two folded 
bats' wings. The plant is grown in a 
pot in sandy peat, mixed with lime 
rubbish ; and the soil is raised above 
the level of the pot, as the flower- 
stalk hangs down from the root. It 
is a native of the West Indies ; and, 
like most other of the tropical Or- 
chidacece, it requires abundance of 
heat and moisture to throw it into 
flower. 

Coryda lis. — Fumariacece. — The 
plants composing this genus were for- 
merly considered to belong to Fuma- 
ria, the Fumitory, but they have 
been separated on account of the dif- 
ferent conformation of the capsule. 
C. glauca, which is the most com- 
mon species, is an annual from North 
America, which may be sown at al- 
most any season, and in any soil and 
situation. C. claviculata, is a Bri- 
tish climber, also an annual, and 
pretty from the abundance of its small 
white flowers. It is of very rapid 
growth, and it is useful in covering a 
trellis, &c, from the number and 
dense habit of growth of its leaves. 
It grows best in a poor sandy or gra- 
velly soil. 

Corylus. — Amentacece or Cupu- 
lifercB — The botanic name of the 
Hazel, Filbert, &c. The species are 
generally shrubs ; but C. colurna, 
the Constantinople nut, is a large 
tree. — See Hazel. 

Corysa'nthus. — Orchidacece. — 



Terrestrial orchidaceous plants, from 
New Holland, which will grow in the 
open air in England, if protected from 
frost during winter. They have dark 
brown flowers, and are so seldom 
cultivated, that they would not have 
been mentioned in the present work, 
had it not been to prevent them from 
being confounded with Coryanthes, a 
genus of Stove Orchidaceae, from the 
West Indies. 

Co'smea, orCo'sMos. — Composites. 
— Mexican plants, generally groWn as 
annuals, but which have tuberous 
roots like the Dahlia, and may be 
treated like that plant. The flowers 
are very showy, and of a reddish 
purple ; and the seeds, when the 
plants are grown as annuals, should be 
sown in March or April, in the open 
ground ; or in autumn, if the young 
plants can be protected during win- 
ter. The plants will grow four or 
five feet high in any common garden 
soil. 

Cotonea'ster. — Rosacea. — Small 
trees and shrubs, natives of Europe 
and India, formerly considered to be- 
long to the same genus as the Medlar. 
They are all well deserving of culti- 
vation in shrubberies, for their bright 
scarlet or black fruit, and their pretty 
white or pink flowers. The Nepal 
species, C. frigida, C. afflnis, C. 
acuminata, and C. nummularia, 
are the most ornamental. C.rotun- 
difolia, and C. microphylla, also 
natives of Nepal , are remarkable for 
their thick leathery evergreen leaves, 
their snow-white flowers, and their 
profusion of bright scarlet fruit. Both 
the latter species form dwarf spread- 
ing shrubs, and are very ornamental 
for a lawn. All the species are 
hardy, and will grow in any common 
soil ; and they may all be propagated 
by seeds, layers, cuttings, or grafting 
on the common quince or hawthorn. 

Cotton-grass. — See Eriophorum. 

Cotyledon. — Crassulacece. — Na- 

F 



cra'ssula. 



66 



CRAT^GUS. 



velwort. Succulent plants, with fleshy 
leaves, and yellow or red flowers, 
nearly allied to the House-leek. They 
should be groAvn in light earth, mixed 
with lime rubbish, or in a compost of 
peat and loam ; and the pots should 
be well drained. The ornamental 
species are all natives of the Cape of 
Good Hope ; and they are propagated 
by cuttings, which should be laid on a 
shelf for a few days to dry before they 
are planted. The European species 
are scarcely worth cultivating. The 
plant called Venus's Navelwort does 
not belong to this genus, but to Orn- 
phalodes. C. semper vivum, Bieb., 
(Umbilicus sempervivum, Dec.,) is 
one of the commonest species. 

Co'tula. — CompositcB. — Hardy 
and tender annuals, of which, C. 
aurea, L., the flowers of which are 
like little golden balls, is the only 
one worth cultivating. It will grow 
in any common garden soil, and re- 
quires to be sown in March, with the 
usual treatment of hardy annuals. 

Cow-itch. — See Mucu^na. 

Cowslip. — Primulacece. — Pri- 
mula veris, the common Cowslip, is 
a well-known British plant, which, 
when cultivated in gardens, should 
be grown in a loamy soil and shel- 
tered situation. 

Cranesbill. — See Geranium. 

Cra'ssula. — Crassulacece. — Suc- 
culent greenhouse plants, natives of 
the Cape of Good Hope, with heads of 
red or white flowers. They should 
be grown in sandy loam, and lime or 
brick rubbish, and the pots should be 
well drained. Like all the Cape 
plants, all the kinds of Crassula should 
have alternate seasons of stimulus 
and repose. When they are growing, 
and about to flower, they should be 
well watered, at least once every day, 
though the water should never be 
suffered to stand in the saucer ; and 
when the flowers begin to fade, the 
supply of water should be gradually 



lessened, till, at last, very little is 
given, and that not oftener than once 
a week. The plants are propagated 
by cuttings, which should be laid on 
a shelf two or three days to dry be- 
fore planting, or they will rot. When 
plants of Crassula are not well drained, 
or if. stagnant water is retained round 
the roots, by letting water stand in 
the saucer, the stems are very apt to 
damp off. C. coccinea and some 
other species were separated from the 
others by Mr. Haworth, and formed 
into the genus Kalosanthes ; but this 
name does not appear to have been 
adopted by many persons, and the 
plants are still generally called Cras- 
sula, both in nurseries and private 
collections. 

Crat,e v gus. — Rosacece. — The 
common Hawthorn, C. Oxyacantha, 
is so well known for its fragrant and 
beautiful flowers, that most persons 
will be anxious to know the other 
species of the same genus ; and, in 
fact, several of the North American 
thorns are the most ornamental low 
trees we have in our gardens and 
shrubberies. The species are all 
hardy, and they all flower and fruit 
freely, and are equally ornamental in 
both states. Almost all the flowers 
are white ; but the fruit varies in 
colour, some being scarlet, some yel- 
low, some purple, and some green. 
The fruit varies also in size from 
that of C. spathuldta, which is not 
larger than a grain of mustard-seed, to 
that of C. Meocicana, which is nearly 
as large as a golden pippin. The 
fruit of C. Azarolus, C. Aronia, and 
C. tanacelifolia, all large and yellow, 
and that of C. odoratissima, of a 
bright coral colour, are all very good 
to eat ; and many persons do not dis- 
like the haws of the common haw- 
thorn. There are nearly a hundred 
different kinds of Crataegus, including 
the hybrids and varieties; and of 
these, thirty-one are varieties of the 



CRATjE'GUS. 



67 



CRO'CUS. 



common hawthorn. The handsomest 
species for their flowers, are the red- 
blossomed and double-flowered haw- 
thorns; the handsomest for their 
leaves, are the different kinds of cock- 
spur thorn (C. crus-galli), C. 
punctata, C. pyrifolia, C. pruni- 
fblia (the leaves of which die off 
of a deep red), and C. Leeana : 
and the most curious for their fruit 
are C. Douglassii, C. Mexicana 
and C. orientalis. The earliest- 
flowering in spring are C. purpurea, 
and C. nigra, the latter of which 
is said to attract nightingales ; and the 
Glastonbury thorn, a variety of the 
common Hawthorn, often flowers at 
Christmas. C. Oouyacantha pendula, 
and C. O. regtnce, Queen Mary's 
thorn, have both pendulous branches ; 
and C. O. stricta and C. tanaceti- 
folia grow stiff and upright, like a 
Lombardy poplar. C. tanacetifblia 
and C. odoratissima have bluish- 
green leaves, which look as though 
they had been slightly powdered ; 
and C. crus-galli splendens, and 
several other kinds, have their leaves 
of a shining dark blackish green. 
C. pyracantha is an evergreen, and 
has a very good effect when trained 
against a wall, from its shining leaves, 
its bunches of pure white flowers, and 
its brilliant scarlet fruit, which are 
so abundant in winter as to induce the 
French to call the plant Buisson ar- 
dent, or the Burning Bush. 

All the species of Crataegus will 
grow well in any soil that is naturally 
dry, but if planted in marshy ground, 
they will be stunted in their growth, 
and their leaves and fruit will become 
spotted and unhealthy. The common 
Hawthorn is propngated by seeds, 
which often lie two years in the 
ground before they germinate, if not 
prepared before sowing, by being suf- 
fered to lie for several months in 
what is called a rot heap ; and which 
is often turned over during that time, 



to prevent the seeds from having 
their vital powers destroyed by the 
heat generated by fermentation. The 
finer kinds of thorns are generally 
grafted or budded on seedlings of the 
common Hawthorn. 

Creeping Cereus. — Cereus fla- 
gelliforrnis. A succulent plant with 
long round pendant stems, beautiful 
pink flowers, and dark purple eatable 
fruit. For the culture, &c, see 
Cereus. 

Crepis. — Composites. — Annual, 
biennial, and perennial plants, natives 
of Europe, of easy culture in any com- 
mon soil. The two kinds most common 
in gardens are, however, now removed 
to other genera; C.barbata, the yellow 
hawkweed, being now made Tolpis 
barbata, and Crepis rubra, the red 
hawkweed, being now called Bork- 
hausia rubra. The first kind only 
requires sowing in the open ground 
with the other annuals in March or 
April, and may be transplanted if 
necessary ; the second is also quite 
hardy, but it should be sown where it 
is to remain, as it does not well bear 
transplanting. 

Cress Rocket. — See Vella. 
Cri^num. — AmaryllidacecB. — 
Stove bulbous-rooted, lily-like plants, 
with very long leaves and large white 
flowers, which in some species are 
fragrant. The plants should be grown 
in rich loam mixed with a little peat 
and sand, and allowed plenty of pot- 
room. They are increased by suck- 
ers, which are produced very sparingly. 
Several of the plants which are called 
by some botanists Crinum, are called 
by others Pancratium, or Amaryllis. 

Cro'cus. — Iridaceee. — There are 
nearly a hundred named kinds of Cro- 
cus, including hybrids and varieties ; 
but there ai-e only about thirty distinct 
species. All the kinds have solid 
bulbs or corms, and they should not 
be taken out of the ground oftcner 
than once in three years, being re- 
f2 



CRO' CUS. 



68 



CRO'WEA. 



planted as soon as possible. The com- 
monest kinds are C. vernus, of which 
there are many varieties, all, however, 
having in them some shade of lilac 
mixed with white ; C. versicolor, to 
which division belong the beautifully- 
feathered kinds of purple ; C. biflorus, 
the Scotch crocus, striped white and 
purple, and generally the first to flower 
in spring; C. susianus, the cloth of 
gold, striped orange and very dark 
purple ; C. sulphureus, very pale 
yellow, or cream-coloured ; and C. 
iuteus, the common yellow. Besides 
these, there is C. sattvus, the autumn- 
flowering crocus, or saffron, which is 
cultivated, on a large scale, in some 
parts of England, particularly near Saf- 
fron Walden in Essex, for its flowers, 
which, when dried, become saffron, 
and are used in dyeing. There are 
also large plantations of saffron in 
France ; but in that country the bulb 
is frequently attacked by a fungus, 
which the French call mort de safran, 
which makes it wither up, and perish. 
All the kinds of springcrocuses should 
be grown in light sandy loam well drain- 
ed, and they may be planted either in 
rows, or beds ; or they may be made 
to form a kind of Arabesque pattern 
in the borders. 

In whatever way the crocus may 
be planted, the leaves should never 
be cut off till they begin to wither, as 
without their assistance the plant 
cannot accumulate matter to form its 
new bulb for the ensuing season. The 
new bulb always forms above the old 
one ; so that in four or five years, 
they will have almost pushed them- 
selves out of the ground ; and from 
this habit of growth, crocuses are ge- 
nerally planted three or four inches 
deep. Crocuses, when in flower, are 
frequently destroyed by sparrows, 
which peck at them, and the bulbs 
are often eaten by mice. They ripen 
abundance of seed, but the seedlings do 
not flower till the third or fourth year. 



Crocks, or Potsherds. — Broken 
pieces of flower-pots, bricks, or tiles, 
used for draining plants. 

Crossbreds differ from hybrids in 
being produced by plants more nearly 
allied to each other ; as two varieties 
of one species, two nearly allied spe- 
cies, &c. For the mode of making 
these crosses, see Geranium and 
Hybrid. 

Crosswort. — See Crucianella. 

Crotaia ria. — Leguminosce. — 
Herbaceous plants, natives of the 
East and West Indies, and a few 
shrubs, natives of the Cape, with 
showy pea-flowers, generally either 
purple or yellow. There are a few 
annual species, the hardy ones of 
which are natives of North America, 
but the species most commonly culti- 
vated are greenhouse shrubs. They 
should be grown in sandy loam and 
peat, well drained ; and they are pro- 
pagated by cuttings of the young wood 
and seeds. 

Cro x ton. — EuphorbiacecB. — 
Mostly stove-shrubs, natives of the 
East Indies and South America. 
C. picta (Codiceitm pic turn, Juss.) 
is a very remarkable and ornamental 
plant, from the brilliant colour of its 
leaves, which are variegated with 
blotches of scarlet, yellow, and dark 
purple. This species should be grown 
in lime-rubbish and peat, or in sand 
only, and the pots must be well 
drained, or the leaves will soon be- 
come green, and lose their beauty. 
The Croton oil is made from an an- 
nual species, C. Tiglium, a native of 
the East Indies* The shrubby kinds 
are propagated by cuttings, which 
should not have their leaves short- 
ened, and which must be struck in 
moist heat. 

Crowfoot. — See Ranunculus. 

Cro v wea. — Rutacece. — A very 
pretty New Holland shrub, which 
will flower nearly all the year. It 
should be grown in a compost of ve- 



CU'PHEA. 



69 



CUTTINGS. 



getable mould, sand, and peat, and 
the pots must be well drained ; as, 
though it requires frequent watering, 
no plant suffers more from the effects 
f water being allowed to remain in a 
stagnant state about its roots. When- 
ever the leaves turn yellow, and the 
flowers drop off without expanding, 
the cultivator may feel assured that 
there is some fault in the drainage, 
and the plant should be repotted. It 
is increased by cuttings. 

Crown Imperial. — See Fritil- 

LARIA. 

Crucianf/lla. — Rubiaceoe, or Ga- 
iacece. — The very beautiful little 
plant called C. stylosa, has brought 
this somewhat neglected genus again 
into notice ; though Dr. Lindley 
doubts its belonging to the genus at all. 
As, however, it is generally so called 
in gardens and nurseries, nothing 
further will be said here on the sub- 
ject. It is a hardy perennial, a na- 
tive of mountains in Persia, growing 
about a foot high in any good 
garden soil, and well adapted for beds 
in a geometric flower-garden, from its 
profusion of bright pink flowers which 
it continues producing from June to 
September. It is well adapted for 
rock-work, and it is increased by di- 
viding the roots. 

Crvptogamous Plants. — Mosses, 
ferns, lichens, and other plants, which 
do not produce any visible flowers. 

Cuckoo-flower. — Several spring- 
flowering British plants are known by 
this name, but that most commonly 
so designated is Carddmine pra- 
tensis. 

Cucu^balus. — Caryophyllacece. — 
Wild British flowers, resembling the 
Silene, or Catchfly. 

Cu'phea Lythracecs. — South 

American plants, with very curious 
flowers, some of which are half-hardy 
annuals, and some stove-shrubs. They 
require a moist rich soil, and a shaded 
situation. 



Cuscu x ta. — Convolvulacece.—Thc 
Dodder. Parasitical plants, wliich are 
sometimes grown in greenhouses ; are 
objects of curiosity. When this is the 
case, the seeds should be sown in a 
pot, in which is growing a common 
horse- shoe geranium (Pelargonium 
zonale). As soon as the seed of the 
Cuscuta begins to germinate, it sends 
out a delicate thread-like stem, which 
is leafless, and which soon coils itself 
round the stem and branches of the 
poor geranium, adhering to them by a 
number of wart-like protuberances, 
or suckers, which appear at intervals 
along its stem. The root of the pa- 
rasite now withers, but the plant itself 
continues to thrive, as it feeds, vam- 
pire-like, on the sap of the poor ge- 
ranium ; and it grows vigorously, 
producing abundance of leaves and 
flowers, while the geranium appears to 
sicken, its leaves turn yellow and 
drop off, and it finally wastes away. 
The geranium should be tall and 
much branched ; and when this is the 
case, the Cuscuta forms avery or- 
namental object, hanging down in 
graceful festoons, and producing abun- 
dance of its glossy pale blush-coloured 
flowers, which are very fragrant. 
Sometimes this parasite is propagated 
by shoots, which should be wrapped 
in wet moss, and tied on the plant to 
which they are to adhere. Two spe- 
cies of Cuscuta are natives of Britain, 
and are very troublesome in oat- 
fields ; but the other kinds are na- 
tives of the South of Europe and the 
tropics. The handsomest species, C. 
verrucosa, is from Nepal. 

Custard Apple. — See Anona. 

Cuttings. — It may be received as 
a general principle, that all plants 
which produce shoots may be pro- 
pagated by cuttings ; though some 
plants are much more difficult to pro- 
pagate in this manner than others. 
Generally speaking, all the soft- 
wooded succulent plants, which have 



CUTTINGS. 



70 



CUTTINGS. 



abundance of sap, such as Pelargo- 
niums, (Geraniums,) Fuchsias, Pe- 
tunias, and Verbenas, strike root 
readily ; while dry, hard - wooded 
plants, such as Heaths, and the dif- 
ferent kinds of Epacris, are very 
difficult to strike. The usual direc- 
tions for striking cuttings are, to put 
them in pure sand, and to cover them 
with a bell-glass ; and this may be 
done as a precautionary method with 
all cuttings, though it is only essential 
with those that are difficult to strike. 
Some cuttings are directed to be made 
of the old wood, and some of the 
young tender shoots of the current 
year ; in general, however, the safest 
plan is, to take off the shoot just 
below where the young wood is united 
to that of the previous season, so that 
a small portion of the old wood may 
remain attached to the cutting. The 
shoot should be cut off with what 
gardeners call a clean cut (as, if it be 
bruised, or left jagged, or uneven, it 
most probably will not grow) ; and it 
should be planted in sandy soil, to 
ensure drainage, as the cutting will 
rot, or, as gardeners term it, damp off, 
if water in a stagnant state be suffered 
to remain round it. When the cut- 
ting is put into the ground, the earth 
should be made quite firm to its lower 
end ; as, if any space be left below it, 
the roots will wither as soon as they 
shoot forth. Cuttings are considered 
most likely to succeed when taken 
from the horizontal branches of the 
plant, nearest the ground ; and as 
least likely to strike root, when taken 
from the upright shoots at the summit 
of the plant; though this rule has many 
exceptions. A shoot of the soft- 
wooded kinds, which strike easily, 
may be divided into several cuttings, 
all of which will grow ; but with all 
the hard-wooded kinds, only one cut- 
ting must be taken from the tip 
of each shoot. Shoots which are of 
the average strength, are preferable 



to those that are either very strong or 
very weak ; and those are best that 
have only leaf-buds, and no flower- 
buds on them. 

Some cuttings which are difficult 
to strike, are directed to have bottom 
heat. This means, that the pots in 
which they are planted are to be 
plunged into a hotbed, that the sti- 
mulus afforded by the heat may in- 
duce the cuttings to throw out roots. 
Care must, however, be taken that the 
hotbed is not too hot, as in that case it 
sometimesburns the tender roots of the 
cuttings. Mr. Alexander Forsyth, a 
very intelligent young gardener, re- 
commends the following plan : — Take 
a wide-mouthed forty-eight sized pot, 
and put some potsherds at the bottom, 
in the usual manner. Then take a 
wide-mouthed small sixty, and put a 
piece of clay in the bottom, to stop the 
hole, and then place it inside the other, 
so that the tops of both pots may be 
on a level. The space between the 
pots must then be filled in with sand 
or other soil, and the cuttings inserted 
as shown in fig. 10. The inner pot 



fig. 10. 




FORSYTH'S MODE OF STB IKING CUTTINGS. 

should be filled with water, and the 
outer pot may then be plunged in the 



CUTTINGS. 



71 



CUTTINGS. 



ground, or into a hotbed, and covered 
■with a glass, or not, according to the 
nature of the cutting. In fig. 10, a 
shows the clay stopping of the inner 
pot ; b, the drainage of the potsherds ; 
c, the sand, or other soil, in which 
the cuttings are inserted ; and d, the 
water in the inner pot. 

Another method, which is shown 
in fig. 11, is to have a small pot 
(a sixty), b, turned upside down in 
a larger pot (a thirty-two), a, and 
to have the space c filled with small 



fig. 11. 




fyffe's mode of striking cuttings. 

pebbles; e is a layer of peat earth 
or moss, and d a covering of sand. 
This kind of pot is very useful for all 
cuttings that are liable to damp off, 
as the water trickles down through 
the pebbles ; and if the pot be placed 
in bottom heat, the hot vapour rises 
through the pebbles in the same way, 
without burning the roots. 

The following are the principal 
kinds of plants propagated by cuttings, 
divided into classes, each of which re- 
quires a different treatment : — Soft 
wooded greenhouse plants, such as 
Geraniums, Fuchsias, Brugmansias, 
Petunias, Verbenas, Tiopseolums, 
Maurandyas, &c. These may have cut- 
tings taken off in spring, or at almost 



any period during summer, and planted 
in sandy soil, with or without a glass 
over them, and with or without bottom 
heat. They may be considered as 
the easiest of all cuttings to strike, 
the principal art consisting in cutting 
the shoot across, through, or imme- 
diately under the joint, with a clean 
cut, preserving a few of the leaves on, 
and making the lower end of the cut- 
ting quite firm in the sandy soil in 
which it is planted. In the summer 
time, such cuttings may be planted 
in the free soil ; and at other seasons, 
in order to admit of protection, in 
pots. In whichever mode they are 
planted, they must be kept in the 
shade, and in a uniform state in re- 
gard to moisture, till they have begun 
to grow. Their growing is an indica- 
tion of their having taken root, when 
they should be taken up, and each 
planted in a separate pot. 

Hard -wooded greenhouse plants, 
such as Camellias, Myrtles, evergreen 
Acacias, and most Cape and Australian 
shrubs, with comparatively broad 




CUTTING OF ACACIA ALATA. 

leaves, are a degree or two more diffi- 
cult to strike than Geraniums and 



CUTTINGS. 



72 



CUTTINGS. 



Fuchsias. The points of the shoots, 
after the spring growth has heen com- 
pleted, and before the young wood is 
thoroughly ripened, should be used : 
and the soil should contain a large 
proportion of sand, and be thoroughly 
drained. If cuttings of this kind are 
put in during autumn, they require to 
be kept through the winter under glass, 
and they will not produce roots till 
spring ; but if the plants have made 
their growth, as most Australian 
shrubs do, in February or March, and 
the cuttings are taken off and planted 




CUTTING OF A CAMELLIA. 

hi these months, they will root that 
same season, and be fit to transplant 
into small pots in the course of the 
summer. To accomplish this object, 
it is common with cultivators to force 
forward the plants from which cut- 
tings are to be taken, by removing 
them from the greenhouse to the hot- 
house in January; and after they 
have made their shoots, to harden 
these before making the cuttings, by 
removing the plants back again to the 
greenhouse. Most cuttings of this 
kind require to be covered with a 
hand-glass, and some with a bell- 
glass. 

Heath-like plants, such as Erica, 
Epacris, Diosma, are among the most 
difficult to propagate by cuttings. 
The points of the shoots only are to 



be taken ; and these, in some cases, 
should be not more than one inch in 
length. These should be taken off 
early in spring, when the plants have 
nearly ceased growing ; and they 
should be cut clean across at a joint, 
and the leaves clipt, or cut off, for 
about half-an-inch of their length. 
The cuttings, thus prepared, are 
planted in pure white sand, well 




CUTTING OF A HEATH. 

drained, with a little peat soil as a 
substratum ; and they are covered 
with a bell-glass, and placed in a 
frame near the glass, and shaded. 
The best time for putting in Heath 
cuttings is in December ; when plants, 
that have about half finished their 
growth, should be selected. The 
cuttings ought not to be more than 
one inch long ; and even shorter 
cuttings sometimes strike better. The 
leaves must then be clipped off with 
a small and very sharp-pointed pair of 
scissors, to about half the length of 
the cutting, or less; as the shorter 
the shank of the cutting, the quicker 
it strikes, and there is less chance of 
its rotting. Great care is necessary 
in clipping off these leaves, and cut- 
ting the cutting across, so as not in 
the slightest degree to lacerate the 
bark, for the smallest wound or lace- 
ration will prove fatal to the cutting, 
by allowing the moisture to enter it, 
and thus damp it off. This, after all, 
is perhaps one of the principal reasons 
why so few, even of gardeners, strike 
Heath cuttings well ; for the cuttings 
being very small and succulent, the 
operators are seldom sufficiently care- 
ful in clipping off the leaves with 



CUTTINGS. 



73 



CUTTINGS. 



scissors, but cut them off with a knife, 
resting the cutting on the thumb-nail ; 
though it is evident, that by this pro- 
cess they cannot make a very clean 
cut ; and, moreover, that they must 
bruise the bark, or tear down the 
petiole of every leaf they cut off. 
Having prepared the cutting properly, 
it must be gently taken in the left 
hand, with a pricker (a knitting needle 
answers exceedingly well) in the right, 
with which a hole is made in the sand 
to about the depth of the shank of the 




CUTTING OF T2PACRIS. 

cutting ; the cutting is then placed in 
the hole, and the pricker is again put 
into the sand, to close the sand round 
it ; as great care must be taken that 
no vacuity is left between the sand 
and the cutting anywhere. As soon 
as the pots are filled with cuttings, 
a bell-glass should be put over them, 
and the pots should be placed on a 
greenhouse shelf, where the tempera- 
ture is not lower than sixty degrees. 
They will require little attention 
afterwards ; excepting now and then 
when the sun is out, or when snow 
has fallen, to shade them from ex- 
cessive light, and to remove such cut- 
tings as begin to rot ; for one rotten 
cutting, if not taken away imme- 
diately, will infect the whole pot, 
and they will all damp off in a very 
little time. If a potful of each sort 
should be more than is required, care 
must be taken to sort the cuttings 
out in such a way that the smooth 
kinds may be placed together, and 



;he hairy ones, the viscid ones, &o 
by themselves. This separation is 
the more necessary, as the hairy kinds 
generally collect more moisture than 
the smooth sorts ; besides the great 
difference of time required to strike 
them, some of the smooth or glabrous 
sorts striking in a month, while some 
of the viscid ones require three or 
four months. When the cuttings are 
put in December, the greater part of 
them will be struck by February or 
March, when they should be carefully 
potted into thumb-pots, about half 
full of very fine potsherds, and the 
other half filled up with soil composed 
of equal parts of finely-sifted peat 
and silver sand. The plants will now 
only require to be kept under the 
hand-glass for a few days, to let them 
root again ; and then they must re- 
main for about a fortnight or three 
weeks on the greenhouse shelf, after 
which they may be with safety re- 
moved to the cold frame. 

Cuttings of stove-plants generally 
require to be planted in the same 
kind of soil as the parent plant, and 
plunged in a gentle bottom heat, from 
a hotbed of tan or stable manure, 
under a bell-glass ; though some of 
the more slender-growing kinds re- 
quire silver sand, without bottom heat, 
As cuttings of many stove-plants are 
very large, care must be taken never 
to allow them to flag or droop, and 
also to preserve as many of their leaves 
as possible ; indeed, this rule may be 
applied to almost all cuttings. 

Succulent plants, such as Cactuses, 
Euphorbias, Mesembryanthemums, 
Crassulas, and the like, require to be 
kept out of the ground for a few days 
to dry, after they have been cut off ; 
and then to be planted in a mixture 
of peat, sand, and brick rubbish, well 
drained. The pots may afterwards be 
set on the dry shelf of a warm green- 
house, and only occasionally and 
slightly watered ; many of them, in- 



CY CLAMEX. 



'4 



CYDO XIA. 



deed, will require no water till they 
have struck. 

Many plants, the shoots of which 
will not root readily, are easily in- 
creased by cuttings of the roots ; such 
as some of the Acacias, Roses, &c. 
Roots not less than a quarter of an 
inch in diameter should be chosen, 
and planted in the same kind of soil 
in which they have previously been 
growing, with their tops just above 
the surface of the soil, and plunged 
in a gentle bottom heat, when they 
will, in a few weeks, form a bud, 
and send up a shoot, and thus become 
well-established plants in a shorter 
time than by almost any other me- 
thod. Many hardy plants are raised 
from cuttings of the roots, and these 
only require to be put into light rich 
soil near a wall, or in any other shel- 
tered situation, and to be kept rather 
moist, and shaded occasionally. 

Cya'nus.— The Corn Blue-bottle. 
See Centaure v a. 

Cy^cas. — Cycadeee. — A kind of 
herbaceous Palm, requiring the heat 
of a stove, aud remarkable for its 
curious root-like stem, and enormous 
fern-like leaves. It very rarely 
fruits in England, and the leaves of 
some of the species are said to wither 
if touched by the hand. It should 
be grown in a strong rich loam. 

Cy'clamen. — Pr'vmula>ce<B. — 
Handsome and curious tuberous rooted 
herbaceous plants. C. europaium 
is a native of Switzerland, and is very 
fragrant ; C. coum, and C. vernum 
are natives of the South of Europe ; 
and all these kinds are hardy in Bri- 
tish gardens, and require no other 
care than to be grown in light rich 
eoil. C. persicum is a greenhouse 
species, the roots of which should be 
planted in well-drained pots, early in 
September, and kept in the open air 
till they have thrown out leaves, 
when they should be removed to the 
greenhouse. They require plenty of 



air, and but very little heat ; and 
during the months of November and 
December, they should have very 
little water; though, when the flowers 
begin to form, they should be abun- 
dantly supplied. When they have 
ceased flowering, the supply of water 
should bediminished ; and about June, 
the roots should be taken out of the 
ground, and kept dry till the season 
for planting the following autumn. 
The best soil for them is equal parts 
of loam and rotten manure, or leaf 
mould, with a little peat and sand, 
or heath mould. All the kinds are 
propagated by seed, which they ripen 
in abundance ; and they all require 
an open airy situation. 

Cyclobo'thra. — Liliacece. —Bulb- 
ous-rooted plants, natives of Cali- 
fornia, with nodding flowers, like 
those of the Fritillarias. They are 
nearly hardy, and only require to be 
kept dry during winter, or to be taken 
up in autumn and replanted in spring. 
They flower at midsummer. 

Cycno v ches. — Orcliidacece. — An 
Orchideous plant, commonly called 
Swan-wort, from the graceful curve of 
the column of the flower, which resem- 
bles the neck of a swan. It requires 
a very damp atmosphere, and the 
greatest heat ever applied to a damp 
stove. For the culture see Orchi- 
deous Epiphytes. 

Cydo v nia. — Rosacea. — The bo- 
tanic name of the Quince tree ; but 
now applied also to that beautiful 
and well-known shrub, with bright 
scarlet flowers, formerly called Pe- 
rils japonica. Cydonia japonica, 
though a native of Japan, is quite 
hardy, and will grow in any soil and 
situation if not too much exposed. 
It bears pruning without injury, and 
makes a good hedge. It retains its 
leaves nearly all the winter ; and in 
mild seasons, and sheltered situations, 
it is almost always in flower. There 
are three or four varieties ; some with 



CYPRIPE V DIUM. 



'5 



cy'tisus. 



half double flowers, and some the 
flowers of which are of a pale blush 
colour. 

Cymbi'dium — Orchidaceoe. — 
Stove Epiphytes, with boat-shaped 
flowers. See Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Cy'nips, the Gall fly. A kind 
of gnat, which occasions the galls on 
oaks, &c. The Bedeguar, a disease 
which affects rose-trees, is occasioned 
by Cynips rbsce, a little insect, not 
more than the twelfth of an inch 
long, having the legs and body red, 
tipped with black. This little crea- 
ture wounds the twig of the rose-tree 
and deposits its eggs under the bark.. 
The wound swells, and forms an ex- 
crescence, often two inches in dia- 
meter, and covered with green or 
pink hairs, which are curiously 
branched at their extremities like 
little masses of coral. The ex- 
crescence is so ornamental that it 
seems almost a pity to destroy it, 
and yet, when opened, it will be 
found to contain a great number of 
the grubs or pupse of the fly. 

Cynoglo'ssum. — Boraginece. — 
Hound's tongue. Pretty little bi- 
ennial and annual plants ; natives 
of Europe, and requiring only the 
common culture of plants of a 
similar nature. Venus's Navel- 
wort was formerly considered to 
belong to this genus, but it is now 
removed to Omphalodes. 

CYPE'i.LA..-—Iridacece. — A beauti- 
ful bulbous-rooted plant, from Bue- 
nos Ayres. It requires the usual 
culture of the Iridacese. (See Cape 
Bulbs.) 

Cypress. — See Cupressus. 

Cypripe^dium. — Orchidacece. — 
The Ladies' Slipper. Terrestrial or- 
chideous plants, mostly natives of 
North America. They should be 
grown in peat soil in a shady border, 
and covered with a hand-glass, or in 
some other manner so as to keep 
them dry during winter. They are 



very difficult to propagate in this 
country, and the plants bought in the 
seed- shops and nurseries have gene- 
rally been imported from America. 

Cyri'lla. — EricacecB, — Green- 
house shrubs with very small white 
flowers. For an account of the beau- 
tiful plant sometimes called Cyrilla 
pulchella, see Trevirana. 

Cyrta'nthus. — Amaryll'idacece. 
— Cape bulbs, with heads of showy 
tube-shaped flowers. For culture 
see Amaryllis. 

Cyktochi n lum. — Orchidacece. — 
Splendid Mexican epiphytes ; which 
are generally grown on part of the 
branch of a tree, or in the husk of a 
cocoa-nut, hung up from the rafters 
of a hothouse, or damp stove. When 
planted, the roots should be wrap- 
ped up in wet moss, and tied on 
the branch, or placed in the husk; 
and the plants should be kept in a 
damp atmosphere, and frequently 
watered. Sometimes these epiphytes 
are grown in pots, in which case the 
soil should be peat, mixed with lime 
rubbish. 

Cy'tisus. — Leguminbsce. — There 
are above fifty kinds of Cytisus ; but 
the kinds best known are the Labur- 
nums, the common Broom, (C. sco- 
parius,) and the Portugal Broom, (C. 
dibits.) The common Laburnum, C. 
Laburnum, is a well-known tree, 
■which if it were less common, would 
be thought extremely beautiful. 
There are only three or four distinct 
varieties, but the plant varies very 
much in the size of its flowers, in their 
colour, and the length of the racemes 
in which they are disposed, and in 
their fragrance. The Scotch Labur- 
num, C. alplnus, is much more 
beautiful than the common kind ; 
both the flowers and leaves are larger, 
and the flowers are more frequently 
fragrant. They are also produced 
much later in the season, not coming 
into flower till the others are quite 



da'hlta. 



7o 



da'hlta. 



over. This is the plant winch 
the Italians call May, as we do the 
Hawthorn. The French call both 
species False Ebony, from the black- 
ness of the wood ; which, however, 



is much darker in C. Laburnum 
than in C. alptnus. Both kinds 
will grow in any soil and situation, 
but they do best in a deep sandy 
loam, and a sheltered situation. 



D. 



Daboz v cia. — Ericacece. — Professor 
Don's name for Andromeda Daboe- 
cia, L., the Irish, or St. Daboec's 
heath. It is quite hardy, but re- 
quires a moist peaty soil. The spe- 
cies has purple flowers ; but there is a 
beautiful variety, the flowers of which 
are white. 

Daffodil — See Narcissus. 

Da'hlia.— Compositcp. — The im- 
portance that has within the last few 
years attached to this genus would 
render it easy to fill a volume with 
descriptions of its various species and 
varieties, and the details of their cul- 
ture. Its history is also somewhat 
curious, as, strange to say, though it 
has become so great a favourite, and 
is so universally cultivated, the history 
of its introduction is very obscure. 
It is generally said to have been in- 
troduced by Lady Holland in 1804 ; 
but the fact is, it had been introduced 
many years before that period, and 
was only brought from Madrid in 
1804, by Lady Holland, who appa- 
rently did not know that it was 
already in the country. The first 
kind of Dahlia known to Europeans, 
D. superjtiia, Cav., (Z). variabilis, 
Dec, Georgina pinnata, W.,) was 
discovered in Mexico by Baron Hum- 
boldt in 1789, and sent bv him to 
Professor Cavanilles, of the Botanic 
Garden, Madrid, who gave the genus 
the name of Dahlia, in honour of the 
Swedish professor Dahl. Cavanilles 
sent a plant of it, the same year, to 
the Marchioness of Bute, who was 
very fond of flowers, and who kept it 
in the greenhouse. From this species 
nearly all the varieties known in the 



gardens have been raised ; as it seeds 
freely,and varies very much when raised 
from seed. In 1 802, D. frustranea, 
Ait., (D. coccinea, Cav.,) was intro- 
duced from France, in which country 
it had been raised from Mexican 
seeds. A few varieties have been 
raised from this kind, but they are 
much smaller than the others. It is 
rather remarkable, that the two spe- 
cies do not hybridize together; and 
that D. superfiua or variabilis 
should produce flowers of colours so 
different as crimson, purple, white, 
yellow, orange, and scarlet, without 
hybridization. Among all the colours, 
however, displayed by these varieties, 
no flowers have yet appeared of blue, 
and comparatively few of a pure 
white. These two species, and their 
varieties, were the only Dahlias known 
in English gardens for many years ; 
as, though a few kinds were intro- 
duced from time to time from France 
and Spain, yet as they did not hybrid- 
ize with the others, and were rather 
more tender, they were not generally 
cultivated, and appear to have been 
soon lost. Most of these have, however, 
been reintroduced from Mexico, with 
several new species, within the last 
few years ; and there are now ten or 
twelve distinct species, besides innu- 
merable varieties of D. variabilis, to 
be procured in England. The most 
remarkable of the new species is the 
tree Dahlia, D. excelsa, which is 
said to grow in Mexico thirty feet 
high, with a trunk thick in propor- 
tion. The name of Georgina was 
applied to the Dahlia by Willdenow ; 
because the word Dahlia was thought 



da'hlia. 7 

to bear too close a resemblance to tbe 
word Dalea, wbicb bad been pre- 
viously given by Thunberg to a 
small leguminous genus. As, bow- 
ever, the words are both spelled and 
pronounced differently, Professor De 
Candolle has recommended that the 
name Dahlia shall be retained, and 
most botanists of the present day 
have followed his recommendation. 
The name Geoigina was given in 
honour of Georgi, a German botanist 
who resided for several years at St. 
Petersburg!]. 

The Dahlia is a tuberous-rooted 
plant, which is propagated either 
by seeds, or division of the root. 
The seeds are chiefly used for raising 
new sorts ; and they should be 
treated like tender annuals, being 
sown on a slight hotbed in February 
or March, and planted out in May. 
The plants rarely flower the first 
year, but the tubers will form in the 
course of the summer, and may be 
taken up in autumn with those of the 
old plants. When the plants are 
propagated by division of the root, 
care must be taken that each piece 
has a bud attached to it. These 
buds, or eyes, as the gardeners call 
them, are not scattered all over the 
tuber, like those of the potatoe, but 
collected in a ring round the collar of 
the root. These eyes, when the 
root is in a dry state, are sometimes 
scarcely perceptible ; and to discover 
them, nurserymen often plant their 
Dahlia-roots in a hotbed, <c to start 
the eyes," as they call it ; that is, to 
force the latent buds sufficiently for- 
ward to show where they are situ- 
ated, before they divide the roots for 
the purpose of forming new plants. 
Sometimes the eyes do not form a 
ring round the collar or crown of 
the root, but a considerable portion 
of it is without any buds. These 
parts, when divided from the rest, are 
called blind tubers ; and though, if 



7 da'hlia. 

put into the ground, they will live 
for several years, sending out abund- 
ance of fibious roots every year, no 
gardener has yet been able to induce 
a blind tuber to form an eye, or to 
send up a shoot. This peculiarity 
should be kept in mind by all no- 
vices in floriculture ; as dishonest 
persons frequently sell large and 
healthy-looking tubers, which are, 
however, worthless, from their being 
without eyes. To remedy this evil, 
an expedient has been devised of 
grafting the tubers of Dahlias in the 
same manner as is practised with the 
tubers of tbe Peony in France (see 
Grafting); but it requires great skill 
in the gardener to do this success- 
fully, as the tuber is very apt to rot 
at the poiut of junction between it 
and the graft. 

Dahlias are also propagated by cut- 
tings of the stem, taken from the 
lower part of the plant ; or young 
shoots slipt off the tuber with part of 
the woody fibre attached. The cut- 
tings should be struck in sand, or 
very sandy loam, under a bell-glass, 
and with bottom heat. Great care 
should be taken to shade them from 
the direct rays of the sun, till they 
have thrown out roots ; as the leaves 
are easily withered, and when this is 
the case, they cannot be recovered, 
and the cutting will perish, for want 
of a due circulation of the sap. The 
roots will generally form in a fort- 
night, or at most three weeks. 

The best soil for Dahlias is a com- 
post of equal parts of sand and loam, 
with a little peat ; which may be en- 
riched with part of an old hotbed, or 
decayed leaves. Manure of any kind 
should, however, be used very spar- 
ingly ; as too much will cause the 
plant to produce strong, coarse-grow- 
ing leaves and stems, instead of fine 
flowers. Striped flowers are always 
clearest and most distinct in their co- 
lours in poor soil. Dahlias will not 



da'hlia. 



78 



da'hlia. 



grow well in the richest clayey soil 
without sand ; and though they will 
grow freely in sand without loam, the 
flowers will be poor, and only semi- 
double. Though they flower so late 
in the year, Dahlias are killed by the 
slightest frost ; and thus their beauty, 
great as it is, is generally rather short- 
lived. As soon as the leaves turn 
brown from frost, which is generally 
in October, the stems should be cut 
down ; and in November, the tubers 
should be taken up. A dry day 
should be chosen, if possible ; and the 
tubers should be carefully taken up, 
and laid on boards in an open shed, 
or some similar place, to dry. While 
drying, they should be turned every 
day, and the earlh that falls from 
them should be swept away. They 
should be dried in an open shed, if 
possible, where they will be only 
sheltered from the rain ; for if dried 
suddenly by fire-heat, or exposure to 
the sun, the tubers are apt to wither 
up ; and if dried too slowly without 
the admission of plenty of air, they 
will rot. They generally do best 
kept during the winter in a dry cellar 
in sand or sawdust ; but any dry place 
will do, which is not too hot. In 
spring, the tubers are replanted, either 
in pots plunged in a slight hotbed, 
about the middle of February, or the 
beginning of March, or in the open 
ground in May or June ; but the 
dwarf early-flowering kinds may be 
planted in the open air in April. 
When the tall kinds are wanted to 
flower early, they may be forced ra- 
pidly forward, by being plunged into 
stronger heat, and kept in the hotbed 
till just ready to flower. If, however, 
the summer should prove hot and 
dry, the plants thus forced are fre- 
quently attacked by a disease called 
the curl, which is caused by an in- 
sect, called the green bug, that perfo- 
rates the young leaves, and occasions 
them to wither and shrivel up. All 



Dahlias are also frequently 'infested 
with earwigs, which pierce the flower- 
buds, and prevent them from ex- 
panding. 

The beauty of the Dahlia is esti- 
mated principally by the shape of the 
flower, which should be perfectly cir- 
cular, without any of the petals pro- 
jecting beyond the others ; but if the 
disc in the centre be seen in a full- 
blown flower, it is considered as a 
great defect. As this imperfection 
disqualifies even a fine Dahlia from 
competing for a prize, dishonest flor- 
ists frequently try to remove it arti- 
ficially, after the flower has expanded. 
The size and colour of the flowers 




DAHLIA- RINGS. 



are considered as of inferior conse- 
quence to the form, by professed 
florists ; though, of course, large 
flowers are generally preferred to 



DA'PHNE . 



79 



da'phne\ 



small ones, and the colours, what- 
ever they may be, should be always 
clear and distinct, without any 
blotches, clouding, or muddiness. 
There are several distinct classes, if 
they may so be called, of the flowers ; 
as, for example, the Globe Dahlias, 
the dwarfs, tbe quilled, &c. As 
the plants are very luxuriant in 
their stems and leaves, they require 
some kind of confinement ; and tbey 
are generally either tied to cast-iron 
stakes painted green, or drawn through 
what are called Dahlia-rings, which 
are generally made of cast-iron ; but 
as these are rather dear, they may be 
imitated by fixing three slender stakes 
of wood, in a triangular form, and 
forming rings of split willows, which 
may be purchased of the basket- 
makers, and tying them to the stakes 
at regular distances ; or the stakes 
may be pierced with holes, and leaden 
wire, or slender lathes, passed through 
them. The dwarf Dahlias may be 
pegged down so as to cover a bed in a 
systematic flower-garden ; and thus 
treated, they have a most beautiful 
effect. 

Daisy. — See Bellis. 

Da lea. — LeguminoscB, — Green- 
house shrubs, with pinnate leaves, 
and small pea-flowers, greatly resem- 
bling those of the wild vetches, but 
less beautiful. The genus would not 
have been mentioned here, but oil 
account of its having been the occa- 
sion of the name of the Dahlia hav- 
ing been changed by Willdenow to 
Georgina. (See Dahlia.) 

Damp Stove. — A name frequently 
applied by gardeners to the Bark 
stove ; but more properly belonging 
to the Orchideous house, the atmo- 
sphere of which is kept constantly sur- 
charged with moisture. (See Oacm- 
deous House.) 

Da'phne\„ — Thymelacece. — A 
genus of beautiful low shrubs, nearly 
equally remarkable for their elegant 



and often fragrant flowers, and their 
bright red, poisonous berries. The 
best known species of the genus is the 
common Mezereon (D. Mezereum), 
which is so general a favourite that it 
has pet names in almost every lan- 
guage. The French call it bois 
gentil, and bois joli ; the Italians, 
the fair plant ; the Germans, silky 
bark ; and even the grave Spaniards 
term it the lady-laurel. In our own 
language, Cowper, one of our sweetest 
poets in all that relates to sylvan 
scenery, thus beautifully describes it, 
alluding to the circumstance of its 
flowers appearing before its leaves : — 

" Though leafless, well attired and. 

thick heset, 
With blushing wreaths investing 

every spray." 

There are two varieties, one with 
white, and the other with dark -red 
flowers. All the kinds are quite 
hardy, and will grow in any common 
garden-soil ; but they prefer a rich 
loam, and a shady situation. In the 
nurseries it is generally propagated by 
seeds ; which are often two years 
before they come up, unless sown as 
soon as they are ripe. When young 
plants are purchased, they should al- 
ways be transplanted in October, as 
the sap begins to be in motion about 
Christmas ; and the plants are almost 
sure to die (or at least, to become 
sickly) if taken up, after the sap has 
begun to move. The poison is acrid, 
and the best remedy, if a child should 
unfortunately eat the berries, is swal- 
lowing oil, melted butter, or milk. 
The Mezereon is a native of the 
North of Europe, and it is sometimes 
found wild in England. The common 
and twin -flowered Spurge Laurels (Z). 
Laureola and D. pontica) are ever- 
green bushy shrubs, with dark-green 
glossy leaves, and greenish flowers, 
which they produce about Christmas. 
The first is a native of Britain, and 



DATU^RA. 



80 DECAYING LEAVES. 



the latter of Asia Minor. They both 
require the same culture as the Me- 
zereon, and the common Spurge 
Laurel thrives under the drip of trees, 
where few other plants will live. The 
dwarf Daphnes are generally some- 
what tender, with pink fragrant 
flowers ; and D. odora, the Chinese 
Daphne, is a very fragrant and beau- 
tiful greenhouse shrub. 

Datu'ra. — Solanacece. — Strong- 
growing, large-leaved plants, gene- 
rally with showy flowers. Most of 
the kinds are annuals ; the best- 
known of which are the common 
Thorn - Apple, D. Stramonium, 
now naturalised in England ; D. 
Metel, a dwarf species, common in 
gardens ; D. ceratocdulon, a magni- 
ficent plant, and D. Tdlula, the 
purple-flowered Thorn- Apple. They 
should all be raised on a hotbed, and 
planted out in May. The splendid 
half-shrubby plant, with large, white, 
tube-shaped fragrant flowers, formerly 
called Datura arborea, is now 
called Brugmdnsia suaveolens. 
This splendid plant may be grown in 
a large tub in the greenhouse, in 
heath mould, during the winter ; and 
in May, a pit may be prepared for it 
about a foot wider in diameter than 
its tub. This pit should be partially 
filled with very rotten manure and 
decayed leaves, and the Datura, being 
turned out of its tub, and its decayed 
roots pared off, may be put into the 
rich compost prepared for it, when it 
will grow most vigorously. A plant 
treated in this manner in 1835, 
expanded 1050 flowers from the 
middle of May to the middle of 
September. About the last week in 
that month the plant was taken up 
out of the ground in which it had 
been growing, its roots and its branches 
were cut in, and it was again placed 
in a tub, to be kept in the greenhouse 
till the following spring. It must be 
observed., that the pit prepared for the 



Datura must be in soil which is either 
naturally dry, from being of a gravelly 
or sandy nature, or which has been 
well drained ; or that the bottom of 
the pit be filled with broken bricks ; 
in order that the plant must be well 
and frequently watered while it is 
growing. Probably if its roots and 
collar were well protected, it might 
be left in the open air without injury 
during winter. 

Davie sia. — Leguminosce. — Aus- 
tralian shrubs, with orange-yellow 
coloured pea-flowers ; which should 
be grown in a greenhouse, in well- 
drained pots, and in a soil composed 
of equal parts of sandy loam and 
peat. The pots will require to be 
often watered, but should have no 
saucers ; as the roots are easily wi- 
thered by drought, or rotted by ex- 
cess of moisture, The species are 
propagated by cuttings, struck in sand 
under a bell-glass, but without bot- 
tom-heat. 

Day Lily. — See Hemerocallis. 
Dead Leaves. — Few persons are 
aware of the great value of dead 
leaves to a florist ; but the fact is, that 
when decayed, leaves form the best 
of all manures for flowering plants. 
In this state they are called leaf- 
mould, or vegetable mould ; and 
under one of these names they will 
be found continually referred to, in 
all books treating of the culture of 
flowers. To prepare this vegetable- 
mould, the dead leaves should be 
swept up in November, and laid in a 
heap in the reserve-ground; the heap 
should be occasionally turned over, 
say perhaps once a month, and in about 
a year, or at any rate by the end of 
the second spring, the mould will be 
fit for use. 

Deadly Nightshade. — Atropa 
Belladonna, a plant of no beauty, 
and a deadly poison. 

Decaying Leaves. — Many trees 
and shrubs are very ornamental from 



DELPHINIUM. 81 



deu'tzia. 



the beautiful colours which their 
leaves assume in autumn, and among 
these may be mentioned the Ampe- 
lops's or Virginian Creeper, the dif- 
ferent kinds of Rhus or Sumach, the 
Liquidambar, the American Maples, 
the Rhododendrons, Azaleas, &c. 
Many large trees, such as the birch, 
the beech, the oak, and the deciduous 
cypress, are also very ornamental, 
from their decaying leaves. 

Deciduous Cypress. — Though 
these trees, in favourable situations, 
become loo large to be included in a 
work like the present, yet as they 
are often introduced in shrubberies, 
when of a small size, it may be here 
observed, that they never grow large, 
unless near water. In their native 
country (North America) they grow 
in swamps and morasses, and are there 
from seventy feet to one hundred feet 
high. When grown in dry soil, they 
become stunted, and rarely exceed 
ten feet or fifteen feet high ; but their 
foliage assumes a beautiful red in 
dying off, instead of its natural yellow. 
Botanists have had some trouble to 
know where to place this tree, as it 
was first called Cupressus disticha, 
and the generic name M as then changed, 
first to Schubertia, and afterwards to 
Taxodium. 

Delphi'niuiu. — Ranunculacece. 
— The Larkspur. Well-known an- 
nual, biennial, and perennial plants, 
with curiously-cut leaves and splendid 
flowers, which are either purple, 
pink, blue, or white, and never 
yellow. The Siberian Larkspurs aie 
remarkable for the metallic lustre of 
their flowers, the hue of which re- 
sembles that of silver, which has 
been tarnished by fire ; and the Bee 
Larkspurs are remarkable and inter- 
esting for the curious manner in which 
the petals are folded up in the centre 
of the flower, so as to resemble a bee, 
or a large blue-bcttle fly. The Lark- 
spurs will grow in any soil or situa- 



tion ; but a rich friable loam, and a 
situation open to the sun, suit them 
best. They are improved by the 
addition of a good deal of thoroughly 
rotten manure to the soil in which 
they grow, instead of being injured 
by it, as is the case with most other 
flowering plants. The seeds keep 
good a long time ; and those of the 
annual kinds do best sown in autumn, 
as when sown in spring they are a 
long time before they flower. The 
perennials are propagated by division 
of the root. 

Dendrobium. — OrchidaceoB. — 
Splendid Mexican epiphytes, which 
may be grown on the branches of 
trees, or in a pot suspended from the 
rafters of the damp stove. They are 
generally propagated by taking off a 
joint of the pseudo-bulb, or stem, and 
planting it in turfy loam, well drained. 
No water should be given till the 
plant begins to shoot from below ; 
but in a short time, the green tips 
of its roots will be seen protruding 
through the loose soil in the pot, and 
hanging down over the rim. It is 
now in a growing state, and if well 
supplied with water, and kept in a 
damp atmosphere, it will increase, 
rapidly ; but care should be taken 
that its long roots are not injured, as 
those that are, will wither away, and 
never recover. The flowers hang 
down in long spikes, and have a splen- 
did appearance. 

Dfptford Pink. — Didnthus 
Armeria. — An annual species of 
Dianthus, with clusters of small 
pink, scentless flowers, something 
like those of Lobel's Catchfly. A 
native of Britain, generally found in 
gravelly soil, and growing freely in 
any garden, where the soil is not too 
rich. 

Deu'tzia. — Philadelpliacece. — 
Climbing, or rather ascending, shrubs, 
with compound panicles of beautiful 
) white flowers. They will thrive in 

G 



dia'nthus. 



82 



dia'nthus. 



any light soil in the open ground ; 
but as they require a slight protec- 
tion during winter, they are generally 
grown in pots, and kept in the green- 
house. D. scabra, the most com- 
mon species, takes its specific name 
from the roughness of its leaves ; 
which, in its native country, Japan, 
are said, by Thunberg, to be used by 
the cabinet-makers in polishing the 
finer kinds of wood. 

Devil in a bush. — See Nigella. 

Devil's Bit. — Scabiosa svccisa. 
— A kind of Scabious, quite hardy, 
and growing in any soil or situation. 
It Mas formerly supposed to have 
great medicinal virtues ; and hence, 
says the legend, the Devil, envying 
mankind such a treasure, attempted 
to destroy it, by biting off a part of 
the root, which appears as though a 
part of it were bitten off at this day. 

Dewberry. — Riibus ccesius. See 
Rubus. 

Dia'nthus. — Carophyllaceee, or 
Silenacece. — A genus of perennial 
and herbaceous plants, containing 
several beautiful and well-known 
flowers. The most popular perhaps 
of these is the Carnation (Dianthus 
Carophyllus), which is occasionally 
found in a wild state in Britain on 
old walls, particularly on the ruins 
of Rochester Castle, &c. In a cul- 
tivated state, the Clove Carnation 
may be called the breeder, or nor- 
mal form, as it bears about the 
same relation to the variegated Car- 
nations as the self-coloured Tulips 
and Auriculas do to the named va- 
rieties of those plants. The varieties 
of Carnations are divided into three 
kinds : the Flakes, which are striped 
Avith broad bands of two colours ; 
the Bizarres, which are striped, or 
streaked, with three colours ; and 
the Picotees, which are much the 
hardiest, and are only bordered with 
a narrow margin of some dark colour, 
or dotted with very small, and al- 



most imperceptible spots. Carnation* 
should be grown in a rich loam, 
mixed with sand or peat to keep it 
open, and a little rotten cow dung, 
or vegetable mould to enrich ic. 
They do best in pots, and the earth 
should be pressed into the pots as 
firmly as possible ; more so, indeed, 
than for any other plant. The plant9 
raised from layers should be sepa- 
rated from the parent in August, and 
they may be potted three in a five 
inch pot. The pots should be well 
drained, and the plants frequently 
watered, till about the middle of 
October, when the watering should 
be gradually decreased. The layers, 
when first potted, may be kept ire 
the open air ; shading them, for a 
few days after potting, from the sun ; 
and putting a hand-glass over them, 
if there should be apprehended any 
danger of severe frost at night, though 
a little frost will not hurt them. 
About the middle of November, the 
plants should be removed to a green- 
house, or shed, where they should be 
kept entirely in the shade, merely 
protected from the frost, as they will 
bear a considerable degree of cold 
much better than too much heat, 
Here they may remain till March or 
April, according to the season, when 
they should be repotted, and, after a 
few days, turned into the open air. 
In May they may be either planted 
out in beds, or removed to larger 
pots for flowering, which they will do 
in June and July. When the buds 
have formed, the plants should be 
w ? ell watered morning and evening ; 
and, in the evening, they should be 
syringed over the leaves, always 
waiting till the sun has gone down. 
The principal points of beauty in a 
Carnation are, that the stem should 
be strong and erect, the calyx well 
and regularly opened, the flower 
round, with the petals regularly dis- 
posed, the largest on the outside, and 



dia'nthus. 



S3 



DICOTYLEDONOUS. 



gradually decreasing in size to the 
centre, and the colours clear and 
distinct, those -with a white ground 
being preferred. The stripes should 
also be broadest at the margin of each 
petal, As the calyxes of Carnations 
are very apt to burst on one side 
before they open on the other, and 
as this spoils the shape of the flower, 
many cultivators gently divide the 
sepals with a pin, as soon as the buds 
are fully swelled ; and others slip a 
round piece of card-board, with a 
hole in the centre, over the bud 
while it is yet quite small, and push 
it up over the calyx, so as to force it 
to open first at the top, This piece 
of pasteboard is kept on after the ex- 
pansion of the flower, and serves to 
keep the petals in their proper places. 
Others tie a strip of bast-mat round 
the lower part of the buds, to pre- 
vent them trom opening improperly. 
The flower is also furnished with a 
stake to tie it to, and a paper or tin 
cap, to shade it from the sun. June 
and July are the months for making 
layers. For this purpose, the outer 
strongest, and lowest shoots of the 
plant should be preferred ; and each 
shoot should be cut about half through, 
in a slanting direction, at a joint. A 
furrow should be made in the ground 
an inch or two deep, in which the 
cut stem should be buried, and fas- 
tened down with a bit of hooked 
twig, so as to have the wounded part 
completely covered, and the end of 
the layer upright, an inch or two out 
of the earth. The layer should be 
moderately watered as soon as it is 
made, and the plant should be shaded 
after the operation. It may be ob- 
served with relation to Carnations 
grown in pots, that as their stems are 
generally very brittle when they are 
moist and succulent, it may be as 
well to set the pot in the hot sun for 
about an hour before the layer is 
made, to render the stalks flaccid. 



Carnations are also propagated by cut- 
tings (see Pipings), and some sorts 
are raised from seed. 

The Pink (Didnthus plumdrius) 
is by some supposed to be a variety of 
the Carnation ; but others make it a 
distinct species, though it does not 
appear to be known in a wild state. 
There are many kinds, but only what 
are called the laced pinks rank as 
florist's flowers. The laced pinks, to 
be esteemed by florists, should have 
their flowers about two inches and a 
half in diameter ; and the petals 
should be white, with rose edges, 
and a broad ring of rich dark purple 
or crimson, as nearly black as possible, 
in the centre ; the colours being all 
strongly marked, and quite clear and 
distinct. The culture of the laced 
pink is exactly the same as that of the 
Carnation ; but the common pinks 
may be planted in the open garden, 
i and treated exactly the same as the 
j other hardy perennial border flowers, 
j The Tree-pink (D.arboreus)is merely 
a woody kind of Carnation ; and the 
; Mule-pink is a hybrid between the 
! Carnation and the Sweet William. 
! They both require only the common 
j treatment of border flowers. The 
1 leaves of all the kinds of Pinks and 
j Carnations are called by gardeners 
' the grass. 

The greenhouse species of Diantbus 
grow freely in light rich mould, with 
a moderate allowance of air and water ; 
and they do not require any particular 
care in their culture. They are all 
very ornamental, and they are pro- 
pagated by cuttings, which strike 
readily, and do not require bottom 
heat. 

For the culture of Diantlius bar- 
batus, see Sweet William. D. 
chinensis, the Chinese Pink, is ge- 
nerally treated as a hardy annual ; 
but it may be preserved in dry scil 
for two or three years. 

Dicotyledonous plan's are those, 
g 2 



DIDl'SCUS. 



84 



dillwy'nia. 



the seeds of which separate into two 
cotyledons, or seed-leaves, when they 
vegetate : and this class comprehends 
three-fourths of all the known plants 
in the world. They have all reti- 
culated leaves, that is, leaves the veins 
in which appear like net-work when 
held up to the light ; and the ligne- 
ous species have the thickness of their 
sterns increased every year by suc- 
cessive layers of new wood, deposited 
on the outside of the old wood, im- 
mediately under the bark. In all 
these points, and many others less 
conspicuous, they differ from the 
monocotyledonous plants, or those 
the seeds of which have only one 
seed-leaf, or cotyledon. 

Dicta'mnus. — Rntacece. — Fraxi- 
nella. There are two species, the 
purple and the white, both hardy per- 
ennials, and both natives of Ger- 
many. The leaves have a pleasant 
smell, like lemon peel, when rubbed, 
and the plant emits a phosphoric 
vapour, which may be easily ignited 
by a candle, and burns like gas. The 
flowers are very ornamental ; and the 
plants will grow in any common gar- 
den soil, and in any situation not im- 
mediately under the drip of trees. 
They are increased by division of the 
root. 

Dim'scus. — UmbeWfertE. — The 
beautiful Australian plants, some- 
times called by this name, and some- 
times by that of Trachymene, are 
half-hardy annuals, that require to 
be raised on a hot-bed, and not 
planted out till May or June. In very 
cold, exposed situations, they are gene- 
rally grown in pots, and kept in the 
green-house ; but they never flower 
so well as in the open ground. The 
best way to grow them is to sow the 
seed in autumn as soon as it can be 
procured from the seed shops, on a 
slight hot-bed, to pot the plants as 
soon as they have formed their second 
pair of leaves, and to keep the plants 



in a frame or green-house, shifting 
them occasionally, till the following 
spring, when they may be planted in 
the open ground in a light rich soil, 
and they will flower beautifully. 

Diervi'lla. — Caprifoliacece. — 
A little North American shrub, with 
yellow flowers something like those 
of the honeysuckle in shape. It was 
formerly considered to belong to Lo- 
nicera. It is very hardy, and will 
grow in almost any soil or situation, 
sending up abundance of suckers, by 
which it is easily increased. 

Digging. — The art of pulverising 
the ground so as to reduce it to a fit 
state to be penetrated by the roots of 
plants ; and also to render it pervious 
to the rain and air, without the aid of 
which neither seeds could vegetate, 
nor trees grow. Digging, (or plough- 
ing, which is the same thing on a 
larger scale,) is the first operation per- 
formed by man on a barren waste 
when he takes it into cultivation. 

Digita v lis. — Scrophularince. — 
The Foxglove. If this plant were 
not a common British weed, it would 
be thought very ornamental ; and, in 
fact, the Teneriffe species, D. cana- 
riensis L., (Isoplexis canariensis 
G. Don), with yellow flowers, and D. 
sceptrum L., (I.sceptrum G. Don,) 
with orange flowers, are favourite 
green-house shrubs. They should be 
grown in a mixture of loam and peat, 
and mav be propagated by cuttings or 
seeds which they ripen in abundance. 
The hardy herbaceous species which 
modern botanists have left in the 
genus Digitalis, are mostly natives of 
the south of Europe, and are all or- 
namental. They require a light rich 
soil, and are propagated by seeds. 

Dillwy'nia. — Leguminosce. — 
Australian shrubs with heath-like 
leaves, and pea- flowers, which are 
generally scarlet and orange. They 
should be grown in pots well drained, 
and in a mixture of peat, loam, and 



DIOSMA. 



8i 



DITTANY OF CRETE. 



sand, and they should be 'well and 
regularly watered ; but no water 
should ever be allowed to stand in 
the saucers if their pots should have 
any, but they are much better with- 
out. They are propagated by cut- 
tings, which should be struck in sand 
under a bell-glass. 

Dimorpho'theca.— Composites. — 
Professor De Candolle's new name 
for the Cape Marygolds, formerly 
called Calendula pluvialis and C. 
hybrida. (See Calendula.) 

Dion/e a . — Droseracece — Venus's 
Fly-trap. A curious little American 
plant, nearly allied to the common 
Sun-dew, so often found in boggy 
meadows iu different parts of Eng- 
land. (See Dro'sera.) Dion&a 
muscipula has a scaly root, almost 
like a liliaceous bulb, and it sends 
out few fibres ; it is therefore very 
difficult to keep, but it does best iu a 
green-house, grown in moss, with a 
little mould at the bottom of the pot, 
and the pot kept standing in water 
and covered with a bell-glass during 
the heat of the day. The glass is 
generally taken off towards the even- 
ing, and the plant allowed plenty of 
fresh air, but some gardeners do not 
think this necessary. It is supposed 
that the flies this plant catches, are 
useful in nourishing it, though not 
essential to its support; and the ex- 
periment has been tried of feeding it 
with very small pieces of raw meat, 
which in a few days appeared sur- 
rounded by a kind of mucus and half- 
digested. In the like manner, the 
remains of the bodies of flies are often 
found in the leaves of this plant, and 
those of the common Sun-dew, 
though both plants will thrive, if kept 
sufficiently moist, without such nou- 
rishment. 

Dio'sma. — Rutacece. — Cape shrubs 
with hair-like roots, which require to 
be grown in pots in a green-house, or 
room, in sandy peat, well drained, 



and frequently watered. Like all 
the Cape shrubs, they are easily 
killed by too much or too little 
water; and should never be suffered 
to stand with water in a saucer, or to 
get too dry. They have a very peculiar 
smell, which some persons like, and 
which is said to be very wholesome ; 
but which is generally thought to be 
very disagreeable, and which remains 
in gloves or any other article of dress 
that may have touched the plant for a 
long time. The Hottentot belles are 
said to use it as a perfume. The plants 
have heath-like leaves and small but 
pretty flowers ; they are propagated 
by cuttings which root freely in sand 
under a glass. 

Di'placus. — Scrophularince. — 
The Monkey-plant. The shrubby 
kinds of Mimulus, with yellow or 
scarlet flowers ; which should be 
grown in a mixture of sandy loam 
and peat. They are natives of Cali- 
fornia, and like all the plants from 
that country they are easily killed by 
the sun striking on the collar of the 
root ; theylikewise suffer severelyfrom 
drought, or too much moisture. They 
are propagated by cuttings struck in 
sand without bottom heat. 

Di'rca. — ThymelacecB. — Leather- 
wood. This is the smallest of trees, 
as though some of the kinds of willow 
are of still lower growth, they are too 
herbaceous in the texture of their 
stems, to be legitimately entitled to 
the rank of trees. The Dirca, on the 
contrary, is as completely a tree as 
an oak, though it seldom grows above 
three feet high. It is a native of 
America, and requires a marshy soil, 
or to be grown in peat kept constantly 
moist. 

Dittany of Crete. — Origanum 
Dictamnus. — A kind of marjoram, 
with pink flowers, a native of Candia, 
which is quite hardy, but should be 
grown in rich mould. On the conti- 
nent, a branch of it hung up in a 



DODECATHEO.N. 



86 



dortma'nnia. 



room, is said to keep away fleas and 
other vermin. 

Division. — Plants are said to be 
propagated by division when they are 
taken up and separated into portions ; 
each portion having part of the root 
and one or more buds attached, if in 
herbaceous plants ; or a root and part 
of a stem if in shrubs, or other lig- 
neous plants. Hence, almost all 
herbaceous plants may be propagated 
by division, as they generally send up 
many stems from their roots ; and 
also all those shrubs or low trees that 
send up suckers. In one sense 
almost all ligneous plants may be 
said to be propagated by division ; as 
cuttings are divisions of the stem or 
branches. Indeed, as every bud has 
the power, like a seed, of sending a 
shoot upwards, and roots downwards 
from its base, every plant may be di- 
vided into as many new plants as it 
has buds ; but the common application 
of the term division is to the dividing 
of those roots which send up many 
stems or suckers. 

Dodder, See Cu'scuta. 
Dodeca'theon. — Primulacece. — 
The American Cowslip. A very pretty 
plant, to which Linnaeus gave a very 
strange name : Dodecatheon signify- 
ing the twelve Roman divinities. The 
plant is a native of Virginia, and it is 
generally considered quite hardy ; but 
it is very difficult to keep. It should 
be grown in the open ground, in a 
sandy loam, in rather a shady situa- 
tion, and kept moist. One reason of 
its being lost is, that if the roots are 
once suffered to become too dry, they 
wither ; and when moisture is given, 
they rot instead of reviving ; and an- 
other reason is, that as the stem and 
leaves die away in winter, the root is 
often dug up and thrown away as 
dead, by jobbing gardeners, who are 
unacquainted with the plants of the 
garden they are working in. To pre- 
vent this, a mark of some kind should 



always be fixed in the ground in small 
j gardens ; or when a new gardener is 
' employed, its situation should be 
pointed out to him. There are 
several garden varieties. 

Dog-tooth Violet — Erythrb- 
nium dens canis, is a pretty bulbous- 
rooted plant with spotted leaves and 
purple flowers. There is a variety 
with white flowers ; and E. Ameri- 
cana has large dark yellow flowers. 
The European kinds will grow in any 
common garden soil, and do not re- 
quire taking up ; but the American 
species, which is much the handsomest, 
is apt to waste its strength in pro- 
ducing roots instead of flowers. For 
this reason, it does best grown in well- 
drained pots, in rather poor soil, or 
what is better, in sandy peat. 
Dog-wood. See Co'rnus. 
Do'lichos. — Leguminosce. — 
Climbing annual and perennial plants, 
from the East and West Indies, ge- 
nerally with purple or yellow pea- 
flowers. The pods and seeds are 
eatable, and in some cases also the 
roots. Soy is made from the seeds 
of one of the East India species. 
They are generally grown in a stove ; 
but most of the kinds will thrive in 
green-house heat, particularly if 
planted in the free ground in a con- 
servatory, and trained up a pillar, or 
over trellis-work. The soil for all 
the species should be sandy loam. Z>. 
Ldblab L., {Lablavia vulgaris D. 
Don,) the Egyptian Bean, has splendid 
dark purple flowers, and will grow 
well in the open air, if treated as a 
half-hardy annual. 

Doro'nicum. — Compositae. — Leo- 
pard's Bane. Showy perennial plants, 
with large dark yellow flowers, which 
look very well in a border, and which 
will grow with scarcely any care in 
any common garden soil. One spe- 
cies, a native of Siberia, has white 
flowers. 

DoRTMA / NNiA.--Z/o6e/iac^.— Pro- 



dra'ba. 



87 



DRAINING. 



fessor De Candolle's new name for 
the common British species of Lo- 
belia. It is an aquatic plant, and is 
generally found in ponds, or small 
lakes. There is an American species 
of the same habits, and both have 
blue flowers. 

Dorya'nthes. — Amaryllidacece — 
D. excelsa, the only species known, 
is a splendid Australian plant, send- 
ing up a flower-stalk twenty or thirty 
feet high, crowned with a head of 
bright scarlet flowers. The plant is 
herbaceous, and it requires a peaty 
soil and green-house heat. It dies 
as soon as it has produced its flowers* 

Doiiy'cnium. — Lp gumma see. — A 
genus of little hardy plants, separated 
by Tournefort from the Lotus, or 
Bird's-foot Trefoil, and growing freely 
in any common soil. They are most 
suitable for rockwork. 

Double Dwarf Almond. (See 
Cerasus.) 

Double Flowers are particularly 
desirable to cultivate in gardens, not 
only from their beauty, but from the 
comparative certainty that exists of 
their producing their flowers every 
year, the plant not being weakened 
by ripening seed. This is peculiarly 
the case with the double-flowered 
trees and shrubs ; the double-flowered 
Peach, the double-flowered Cherry, 
and the double-flowered Hawthorn 
never failing to produce abundance of 
blossoms every year so long as the 
tree continues in health ; while the 
single-flowered kinds generally fail in 
producing an abundant crop of blos- 
soms every second or third year. 
This observation does not apply so 
forcibly to semi-double flowers, as 
they frequently ripen seeds. 

Dra v ba. — Cruciferee. — Willow- 
grass. Very low plants, admirably 
adapted for rockwork, as they are ge- 
nerally found in a wild state in the 
fissures and crevices of rocks and 
mountains. They have generally 



white or yellow flowers, and should 
be grown in sandy soil, on a bank, or 
in any open situation, exposed to the 
sun. 

Drac^'na. — Asphodelacece. — The 
Dragon-tree. Eastern trees and shrubs 
with the habit of palms. They re- 
quire a stove in England, and to be 
grown in peat and loam. The tooth- 
brushes called Dragon's root, are 
made from the root of the tree species 
cut into pieces, about four inches 
long ; each of which is beaten at one 
end with a wooden mallet, to split 
it into fibres. 

Dracoce'phalum. — Labiatce. — 
Dragon's Head. Several species of 
this genus are well known as garden 
flowers ; particularly D. Moldivica, 
the Moldavian Balm, a hardy annual, 
and D. canariense, the Balm of 
Gilead, a greenhouse shrub, which 
should be grown in rich mould, and 
is propagated by cuttings. Some of 
the perennial species, such as D. 
canescens, D . grandiflbrum (a native 
of Siberia), and Z>. austriacum, have 
large and splendid blue flowers ; all 
these are quite hardy in any common 
garden soil, and they are all propa- 
gated by seeds or division of the 
roots. 

Draining. — Draining in the open 
garden is effected either by surface- 
gutters, into which the water may 
run, which does not sink into the 
soil ; or by underground channels, 
formed by earthenware tubes called 
draining-tiles, or by tunnels built of 
brick or stone, or by open drains 
partially filled with small pebbles, 
broken stones or bricks, or even by 
faggots, branches of trees, or other 
similar materials, which will preserve 
a porous channel through which the 
water may percolate. The draining- 
tiles or other materials should not 
rise nearer to the surface than the 
common depth of dug ground, say 
about a foot or eighteen inches ; and 



DR(/SERA, 



88 



duvau'a. 



they need not be placed deeper than 
the usual depth of trenched ground, 
say between two and three feet. Plant- 
pots and boxes are drained by pla- 
cing crocks or potsherds, shells, small 
stones, or cinders, over the hole in 
the bottom of the pot ; and in large 
pots these materials may be covered 
with any fibrous matter, such as old 
matted roots, loose moss, pieces of 
turf, &c, which will prevent the 
earth from mixing with the potsherds, 
stones, or other substances employed 
for draining. The great object of 
draining is to prevent the stagnation 
of water about the roots, which rots 
the spongioles or elastic extremities 
of the fibres, and soddens or consoli- 
dates the earth in such a manner that 
the roots cannot penetrate into it, or 
if they do, that they decay for want 
of air. For most plants the best ma- 
terials are old pots, broken into pieces 
little more than an inch in diameter, 
which gardeners call crocks or pot- 
sherds, as from their porous nature 
they form reservoirs of moisture, 
which will prevent the plants from 
ever becoming too dry. Cinders, on 
the contrary, are to be preferred for 
delicate or succulent-rooted plants, 
as the crocks retain so much moisture 
as to be injurious to the roots of these 
plants. The Australian and Cape 
shrubs should have their pots drained 
with two or three layers of crocks, as 
these will retain sufficient moisture to 
prevent the roots from withering, 
which even an hour or two of perfect 
dryness would occasion them to do. 

Drilling. — Sowing seeds singly in 
furrows made in straight lines; a 
mode of sowing very useful in culi- 
nary crops, but seldom practised with 
flowers, which scarcely ever require 
to be hoed up. 

Dro'sera. — Droseracece. — The 
Sundew. British, American, and 
Australian plants, with hairy leaves 
and curious flowers, which require to 



be grown in moss, or peat, or heath 
mould, kept moist, and during the 
heat of the day covered with a bell- 
glass. The hairs on the leaves sup- 
port drops of water in the hottest 
weather, and being very irritable, 
close on any insect that may chance 
to touch them, like those of Diontsa 
musctpula, Venus's Fly-trap, the leaf 
bending over the insect, and holding 
it in prison. The Italian liqueur 
called Rossoglia is said to take its name 
from one of the species being used in 
its composition. The Australian spe- 
cies from the Swan River, seeds of 
which have been introduced by Capt. 
Mangles, promise to be very beauti- 
ful. Ail the kinds of Drosera ap- 
pear to be very short-lived ; and pro- 
bably will not live longer than three 
or four years, whatever care may be 
taken of them. 

Dry Stove. — A hothouse or plant 
structure, for tropical plants which 
do not require a moist heat, such as 
some of the kinds of Cacti, or other 
succulent plants. The temperature 
of the dry stove should not be less, 
even in winter, than between 55° and 
65° ; but in summer it may be from 
10° to 20° higher. The plants are 
placed cm shelves or benches ; and 
they are grown in pots of sandy peat, 
or very porous soil, thoroughly 
drained, which in general should be 
kept much drier than the soil of 
plants, either in the greenhouse, or in 
the moist or bark stove. The plants 
generally grown in a dry stove, are 
the different species of Melocacti, 
Epiphyllum, Cereus, Euphorbia, 
Stapelia, Agave, Mesembryanthe- 
mum, Ciassula, Sedum, Sempervi- 
vum, Larochea, and several sorts of 
bulbs, such as Lachenalia, 0'xalis,&c. 

Dumb Cane. — Caladium segiri- 
num. — A kind of Arum, requiring a 
bark-stove, and more curious than 
beautiful. 

Duvau'a. — Anacardiacece ,or Te- 



DWARFING. 



89 



DWARFING, 



rebinthacece. — Chilian shrubs, which 
prove nearly hardy in the climate of 
London. They were called Amyris 
by Cavanilles, and Schlnus by Or- 
tega, both professors of botany at 
Madrid ; and they are occasionally 
found under these names in gardens 
and nurseries. The commonest kind, 
D. dependens, Dec, (Amyris poly- 
gama, Cav.,) withstood the winter 
of 1837-8, in the Horticultural So- 
ciety's Garden, with very little pro- 
tection. The leaves of plants of this 
genus, if thrown upon water, will 
start and jump about in a very extra- 
ordinary manner ; and they smell 
strongly of turpentine. The plants 
should be grown in a light dry soil, 
aud trained against a south wall, 
where they can be protected by a 
thatched coping during winter. The 
flowers, which are white, are produced 
in small spikes, and they are suc- 
ceeded by dark- purple berries. 

Dwarf Fan-palm. — Chamcerops 
Mmilis. — This plant is the hardiest 
of the palm tribe, and it will succeed 
if planted out on a lawn, and slightly 
protected during severe frosts. It 
should be grown in rich mould, well 
drained, and occasionally watered. 
When planted out on a lawn, a pit 
should be dug for it about two feet 
deep ; at the bottom of which should 
be two or three layers of pebbles, to 
ensure* drainage, and then the pit 
filled up with rich sandy loam. Thus 
treated, and protected during severe 
winters by a moveable frame of can- 
vas, stretched on hoops, or of basket- 
work, it will grow vigorously, and 
live many years. — (See Protecting.) 

Dwarfing. — In some cases, where 
there is very little room, it may be 
desirable to know how to obtain 
dwarf trees ; though generally speak- 
ing they are, like all unnatural ob- 
jects, in bad taste, and rather disagree- 
able than pleasing. Wherever Chinese 
buildings are introduced, however, a 



few dwarf stunted elms in China 
vases should be placed near them ; as 
in China it is said that no garden is 
considered complete without several 
of these little monsters. The mode of 
making them is to take a ring of bark 
off . one of the branches of a full- 
grown elm- tree, and to surround it 
with earth wrapped in moss, which 
should be kept constantly moist, by 
water being thrown on it several times 
a day, or by a vessel being suspended 
over it, so contrived that the water 
may ooze out a drop at a time, and 
thus be continually and regularly fall- 
ing on the moss. In the course of a 
few weeks, the branch will have 
thrown out roots ; and when this is 
supposed to be the case, it should be 
detached from the parent tree, and 
planted with the moss still round it 
in a small pot in very poor soil ; as 
soon as it begins to grow, it should be 
shifted into another pot a little 
larger ; and this shifting should be 
repeated several times, into larger 
and larger pots, always using poor 
stony or gravelly soil, and giving the 
plant very little water. Thus treated, 
the plant will soon become a little 
stunted tree, bearing all the marks of 
old age ; and looking like a poor de- 
crepit old man, bent double with age. 
It is obvious that other forest-trees 
might be dwarfed in the same man- 
ner ; so that a miniature forest might 
easily be formed, the oaks asuming 
a gnarled and rugged character, and 
bearing acorns, and the pines and firs 
with rough furrowed bark, and co- 
vered with cones, and yet the whole 
not above two feet high. 

Another mode of dwarfing ligneous 
plants is employed to throw them 
into flowers or fruit. It is found that 
many stove-plants only bear fruit at 
the extremity of their branches, and 
that our hothouses are not large 
enough to permit them to attain the 
requisite size. Cuttings are thereforo 



EARTHS. 



90 



EARWIG. 



made from the points of the shoots ; 
and when these grow, other cuttings 
are made from their shoots. In this 
way small compact plants are ob- 
tained, the wood of which may be 
more easily ripened than that of large 
plants, and which seldom fail to pro- 
duce flowers and fruit. Professor 
Van Mons practised this mode of 
dwarfing to obtain fruit from his seed- 
ling pears sooner than he could other- 
wise have done. 

Another mode of dwarfing trees 
and shrubs, is by grafting them on 
other low-growing species of the same, 
or some nearly allied, genus : thus, for 
example, the common horse-chestnut, 
JEsculm Hippocastanum, may be 
grafted on Pavia humilis, which does 
not grow above three or four feet 
high ; the Azarole, or any of the large 
American thorns, might be grafted on 
Cratcegus parviflora, or C. viridis, 
which are about two feet high ; and 
the common British, or any of the 
large-growing American oaks, on the 



the Bear oak, Quercus Bannisteri, 
or ilicifolia, which grows to the 
height of about three feet. 

Herbaceous plants, whether annual 
or perennial, may be dwarfed, by 
growing them first in very small 
pots, and shifting them into others 
pots, gradually increasing in size 
every time ; taking care that each pot 
shall be well drained, and that the 
soil used to fill up the pots shall be a 
rich sandy loam. Thus treated, and 
supplied with abundance of water, 
which is not suffered to remain round 
the roots, and kept in an open situa- 
tion, where they can have plenty of 
light and air, and not be exposed to 
cold winds, all herbaceous plants will 
become bushy and compact, and will 
produce flowers at the extremity of 
every shoot ; while on the contrary, 
if suffered to remain in small pots, 
they will become drawn up, with 
weak naked stems, and produce com- 
paratively few flowers. 



E. 



Earths. — Most amateur gardeners 
confound the words earth and soil ; 
but they are quite distinct. There 
are only three primitive earths, — viz., 
lime, sand, and clay ; and these, by 
the admixture of other substances, 
and particularly of decayed animal 
or vegetable matter, become soils. 
Thus lime, by absorbing carbon, 
changes to chalk, and becomes the 
basis of all calcareous soils ; and clay, 
mixed with a little sand, and decayed 
animalsand vegetables, becomes loam. 
When sand predominates in this com- 
position, or when pure sand is added 
to it, the soil is called sandy loam, 
and this is the very best of all soils 
for vegetation ; and when chalk or 
lime is added, instead of an extra pro. 
portion of sand, the soil is called cal- 



careous loam, and is admirably suited 
for culinary vegetables, &c, and some 
kinds of flowers. . Gravel is a kind 
of coarse sand ; and sandstone, sand 
in a solid state. Peat is not properly 
an earth, but decayed vegetable mat- 
ter, which has been saturated with 
water while the process of decompo- 
sition was going on. 

Earth Pea. — Ldthyrus amphi- 
carpos. — An annual pea, which forms 
part of its flowers and pods under 
ground ; and which, though not very 
beautiful, is often cultivated for its 
singularity. It is a hardy annual, 
and should be sown in March or 
April. 

Earwig. — Forfi'cula auricula- 
ris. — A well-known insect, that, by 
a singular chance, has obtained a bad 



eccremoca'rpus. 9 



1 



ECHINOCACTUS. 



character for the mischief that it does I 
not do ; while that which it really 
does, passes comparatively without 
notice. Many persons destroy earwigs 
whenever they see them, from a fear 
of their creeping into the ear, and, by 
eating through the drum, occasioning 
deafness, — though this is what they 
cannot do ; while hut few persons, 
except florists, are aware of the great 
mischief that they do in flower-gar- 
dens, and that they should be de- 
stroyed on that account, with as much 
care as slugs, snails, or wood-lice. 
They are particularly fond of attach- 
ing flowers in the bud ; and they 
destroy, in this manner, great num- 
bers of Dahlias and Carnations. They 
also attack -bulbous-rooted plants, 
and all flowers that have plenty of 
petals. Many expedients have been 
devised to catch these troublesome 
insects, and, among others, troughs of 
water have been placed round parti- 
cular plants. These are, however, of 
no avail ; as the earwigs are furnished 
with wings, though they are so deli- 
cate in their texture, and fold into 
such little space, as to be rarely seen. 
Earwig-traps are also formed of hol- 
low pieces of cane, or rhubarb-stalks, 
and sometimes of wood, or even of 
tin. The earwigs feed during the 
night, and creep into these hollow 
tubes in the morning, to avoid the 
heat of the sun ; and consequently 
may be shaken out and killed, at any 
time during the day. The earwig 
differs in its habits from other insects, 
in regard to its young ; as it sits on 
its eggs, and broods over the young 
ones, like a hen over her chickens : 
most other insects, on the contrary, 
die as soon as they have laid their 
eggs, which they leave to be hatched 
by the sun, and the young to take care 
of themselves. 

Eccremoca'rpus. — Bignoniacece. 
— E. scaber, Ruiz et Pavon ; (Ca- 
lampelis scabra, D. Don.) — A half- 



hardy climber, of exceedingly vigor- 
ous growth, producing a great profu- 
sion of orange-scarlet flowers, and 
ripening abundance of seed. It will 
grow in any common garden-soil; and 
if cut down to themot in autumn, and 
covered with dead leaves, straw, or 
anything to preserve it from the frost 
during winter, it will shoot up again 
the following spring. It may be pro- 
pagated by cuttings struck under a 
bell-glass; but it ripens seeds so 
freely, that it is most easily raised from 
them. They should be sown in 
autumn as soon as they are ripe on a 
slight hotbed ; and the plants, which 
should be kept in a frame or gi"een- 
house, should be shifted two or three 
times till they are ready for planting 
out in April or May. They should be 
watered and shaded for a day or two, 
till they seem established ; but after 
that they will require no farther care, 
except a little training, if they are 
wanted to cover any particular part of 
the wall, &c. 

Echinocactus. — Cactacece. — 
Round-shaped Cacti, which take their 
name from their resemblance in form 
and spines to a curled-up hedgehog. 
There is, however, a great degree of 
confusion about them, and some spe- 
cies that are called Echinocacti by 
some botanists, are called Melocacti 
by others; and those with very long 
tube-shaped flowers have lately been 
called Cereus, because their flowers 
in their construction resemble those 
of the other plants belonging to the 
genus Cereus. Whatever botanic 
name may be given to them, all 
the round-shaped, ribbed, spiny, or 
porcupine Cacti, require the same 
treatment ; that is, to be grown in 
vegetable mould, mixed with pounded 
bricks, or lime rubbish, and allowed 
bottom-heat where practicable. The 
pots should be drained with cinders ; 
and the plants should be frequently 
watered, but the water should never 



EDGINGS. 



92 



EDGINGS. 



be given overhead, as it will rot the 
centre, where there is an indenta- 
tion, if suffered to lie there, and this 
can hardly be avoided if water is 
poured all over the plant. They sire 
propagated by seeds, which should be 
sown in silver sand, and placed in a 
warm shaded situation ; or by cutting 
off the top of the plant, and after let- 
ting lie a day or two to dry, planting 
it in silver sand, and not watering it ; 
when it will soon throw out shoots, 
while the other part of the plant will 
form anew top. The young plants, 
when raised from seed, should not be 
watered when transplanted, for seve- 
ral days after transplantation. The 
flowers of all the porcupine Cacti are 
very ornamental ; and those which 
are considered to belong to Cereus, 
often have the tubes of their flowers 
a foot long. 

E'chinops. — Composites. — The 
Globe Thisile. Hardy annual, bien- 
nial, and perennial plants, generally 
with blue flowers ; that require only 
the common culture of their respec- 
tive kinds, and which will grow in 
almost any soil and situation. 

Echi'tes — Apocynecce. — Beauti- 
tiful stove-climbers, which grow freely 
in a mixture of sandy loam and peat ; 
and which should be trained up the 
pillars, and under the rafters. They 
are propagated by cuttings, which 
strike readily. 

Echium. — BoraginacecB. — Vi- 
per's Bugloss. Perennial, biennial, 
and annual plants, generally with 
rich dark-blue flowers ; though some 
of the kinds that are natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope and the Canaries, 
have red, white, or violet flowers. 
They all require a light soil, and will 
grow well in either sandy or peaty 
loam ; and they are easily propagated 
by seeds or division of the root. 

Edgings are lines of plants, gene- 
rally evergreens, to separate walks 
from beds or borders. The plant in 



most universal use for this purpose 
in British gardens is the dwarf Box: 
a low evergreen shrub, which retains 
its leaves for two or three, and even 
four years, and bears clipping, so as 
to be kept not more than three or 
four inches high, two inches or three 
inches broad at the base, and one 
inch at top. Being once planted, if 
clipped every year, it will retain its 
form and efficiency as an edging, for 
six, seven, or more years. In plant- 
ing it, the first operation is to prepare 
tlie soil by digging it, and reducing it 
to an even surface, parallel to what is 
intended to be the surface of the 
gravel, or material of the walk, on 
the one side, and of the bed, or bor- 
der, on the other. The next is to 
stretch a garden-line, so as to indicate 
the direction in which the edging is 
to be planted; the next is to cut out 
a narrow shallow trench with a spade, 
on the side of the line next the walk. 
Then the Box is evenly distributed 
along this trench, with the tops of 
the plants about an inch above the 
soil ; and the earth is drawn in over 
the roots of the plants, and firmly 
pressed to them with the feet, so as 
to reach within about three inches of 
the tops of the plants. After this, 
the gravel is laid on so as to cover 
the soil about two inches, and to 
leave one inch of the Box above the 
gravel on one side, and above the 
soil on the other. It is particularly 
to be observed, that the trench must 
always be made on the side next the 
walk, in order that the soil may be 
placed about the roots of the plants, 
and the gravel laid over it ; otherwise, 
if the trench were made on the border 
side, the Box would lean against the 
gravel, and the roots, being entirely 
covered with soil, would grow with 
so much luxuriance, that the plants 
would be with difficulty kept within 
bounds by clipping. Other plants 
which are used for edgings to walks 



EDGINGS. 



93 



EDGINGS. 



and beds, are, Thyme ; the common 
Heath ; Thrift, or Sea Pink ; Saxi- 
frage of different kinds ; the Sweet 
Aly'ssum ; and, in general, every 
herbaceous plant that is of low com- 
pact growth, and retains its leaves all 
the year. Double edgings are some- 
times formed, by planting a line of 
evergreen plants next the walk, and 
within it, at about six inches' distance, 
a line of bulbous-rooted plants, such 
as Crocuses, Snowdrops, Scillas, Hya- 
cinths, Aconites, Dwarf Narcissus, 
&c. In general, the great art in 
planting and managing edgings is, to 
keep a complete line of separation 
between the gravel of the walk and 
the soil of the border ; for which pur- 
pose the plants in the edging must 
always touch one another so closely 
as never to let the gravel and the soil 
come in contact. 

Edgings to beds and borders are 
also formed of other materials, such 
as lines of bricks, tiles, or slates, or 
of narrow strips of stone, or even of 
wood. In general, however, edgings 
of this kind have a meagre appear- 
ance, especially in small gardens, 
though they have this advantage, 
that they do not harbour snails, slugs, 
or other vermin. In architectural 
flower-gai-dens, near a house, where 
the garden must necessarily partake 
of the character of the architecture of 
the building, stone or brick edgings 
sre essentia], and they should be 
formed of strips of curb-stone, bedded 
on stone or brickwork, so as never to 
sink. These stone edgings should 
never be more than two or three 
inches wide, and they should not 
rise above the surface of the walk 
more than two inches ; otherwise, 
when they rise higher, unless the 
walk be of more than the usual 
breadth, they give it a sunken ap- 
pearance, which is very unpleasant to 
the eve. In forming edgings of brick, 
the bricks should generally be placed 



in the ground endways ; and the best 
effect is produced by using bricks that 
have been moulded with round ends 
on purpose. Edgings of tiles, to be 
kept securely in their places, should 
be set in concealed brickwork ; other- 
wise they are apt to get out of place, 
and to have a ragged and temporary 
appearance. The same may be said 
of edgings of slate; and, in general, 
these kind of edgings are much im- 
proved by a line of evergreen plants, 
planted close to them on the bed, or 
border side. Edgings of boards should 
be of oak, for the sake of durability ; 
and they should be kept securely in 
their places by concealed posts, driven 
into the ground, to which the boards 
should be nailed, beneath the surface 
of the walk. 

Much of the beauty of all gardens, 
whether useful or ornamental, de- 
pends on the neatness and high keep- 
ing of the edgings ; for whatever may 
be the state of the boundary fence of 
the gravel or pavement of the walks, 
and of the soil or plants of the bor- 
ders, if the edgings have an uneven, 
ragged appearance, or if the plants be 
either too large or too small, the 
garden will be at once felt to be in 
bad keeping. 

Hitherto nothing has been said of 
edgings of turf, because these are 
chiefly applicable to pleasure-grounds. 
To form them, the ground is first dug, 
and then levelled, so as to be about 
the intended height of the gravel, or 
half an inch below it. It is then 
firmly beaten, so that it may not sink 
afterwards; and the turf, which should 
be procured from a smooth, even, pas- 
ture, is laid down, and rolled or beaten 
with a broad flat mallet, fixed in a 
long handle, called a turf-beater, so 
as to be rendered perfectly firm and 
even. The breadth of turf-edgings 
should seldom be less than two feet, 
because less than this width cannot 
be conveniently mown. After the 



edwa'rdsia. 94 



ELSHOLTZIA. 



turf has been laid down, a garden- 
line should be stretched along its 
margin, and the edges should be cut 
smooth with a spade or a turfing-iron. 
The walk may now be filled in with 
gravel to within an inch of the upper 
surface of the turf, and the soil of 
the border may also be raised to the 
same height. In the management of 
the turf afterwards, the greatest care 
must be taken not to cut the edgings 
of the turf so as to show a line of 
earth, which always produces a raw 
and harsh appearance. Generally 
speaking, only the grass should be 
clipped close on the side next the 
walk; and if it be found that the 
roots of the grass have penetrated 
into the gravel, so as to make the 
use of the turf-cutter necessary, the 
edges of the cut turf should be after- 
wards gently pressed down, so as to 
make the grass slope gently up from 
the walk. This slope will, however, 
be very trifling; as if the walks are 
kept properly full of gravel, they 
ought to be as nearly as possible on a 
level with the turf. These remarks 
will, of course, apply to all cases 
where there is a gravel-walk through, 
or round a lawn ; or, in short, to all 
points of junction between gravel and 
grass. 

Kdwa'rdsj&.— Legtiminosce . —Half- 
hardy low trees and shrubs, with 
pinnate leaves, and very curiously- 
shaped flowers (which are of a dark 
golden yellow), and seed-pods. The 
plants will grow well in the open air, 
against a wall, if protected during 
winter by a thatched coping. The 
soil should be sandy loam, and ke.pt 
moderately dry, as too much moisture 
to the roots is apt to make the leaflets 
turn yellow and drop off. The species 
are all natives of New Zealand ; and, 
on their first introduction, they were 
supposed to belong to the genus So- 
phora. They are propagated by cut- 
tings, in sand, under a bell-glass. 



Egg Plant. — Solarium Melon- 
gena, L. — A tender annual, nearly 
allied to the Tomato, the fruit of 
which, when white, greatly resembles 
an egg. There are some varieties 
with violet. coloured, and some with 
dark purple fruit. All the kinds are 
eatable, if dressed like the Tomato. 
The seed should be sown in light 
rich earth, on a hot-bed, in February 
or March, and the young pricked out 
into pots, and shifted several times, 
till they are ready to flower. They 
may then be removed to the hot- 
house, or greenhouse ; but they will 
not ripen their fruit without a good 
deal of heat. 

Eljea'gnus. — ElceaoncicecB. — The 
Oleaster, or Wild Olive. Curious- 
looking low trees, or shrubs, with 
bluish-green leaves, covered with a 
white silky down, that gives them a 
silvery look in the sun-beams. The 
flowers are small and tube-shaped; 
they are of a pale yellow, and rather 
fragrant. The fruit resembles the 
Olive in shape, and is of a dark 
reddish brown. There are only two 
hardy species, one of which is a na- 
tive of the Levant, and the other of 
America ; they both require a light 
rich soil, and a somewhat sheltered 
situation ; and they are both pro- 
pagated by seeds or cuttings. The 
Nepal species require a greenhouse. 

Elder. — See Sambu v cus. 

Elephant's Foot. — See Tamus. 

Elichrysum. — See Helichrysum. 

Elsholtzta. — Labiatce. — A 
plant of no beauty, the flowers of 
which somewhat resemble those of 
the common Mint, but are smaller 
and less conspicuous. The plant is 
only noticed here from the re- 
semblance of its name to that of the 
Eschscholtzia, which induced Dr. 
Lindley to pi'opose to change the name 
of the latter genus to Chryseis ; in 
the same way as it was proposed to 
change the name of the Dahlia on 



enkia'nthus. 95 



e'pacris. 



account of its similarity to Dalea. 
As, however, the German names are 
found to be quite as distinct as Dahl 
and Dale, the Eschscholtzia retains 
its first appellation. 

Emilia. — Composite. — Cassini's 
name, adopted by Professor De Can- 
dolle, in his new arrangement of the 
Composites, for the Cacalia coc- 
cinea, C. sonchifolia, and C. sagit- 
tata of Linnaeus. 

Empe x trum, — Empetrece. — The 
Crow Berry. Little heath-like plants, 
with pretty flowers and very showy 
berries, adapted for growing on rock- 
work. They should be grown in peat 
soil, and kept rather dry. 

Enchanter's Nightshade. — See 

ClRCEjE. 

Endogens. — Monocotyledonous 
plants. The trees belonging to this 
division, such as the Palms, Tree 
Ferns, &c, increase very little in 
thickness as they advance in age ; but 
their wood becomes gradually more 
solid, by the woody fibres formed 
every year in the interior of their 
stems. Trees of this kind have no 
medullary rays, and their trunks, 
when cut down, show none of these 
marks of the successive layers of 
wood which are so conspicuous in 
exogenous trees. 

Enkia'ntkus. — Ericaceae. — 
Greenhouse shrubs, with very hand- 
some arbutus-like pink and white 
flowers, which are produced from 
September to February. The plants 
are very difficult to manage. They 
should be grown in very sandy loam, 
mixed with a little peat : and they 
should be allowed plenty of air and 
light, with only enough of heat to 
exclude the frost. They will not, 
however, bear planting out, as their 
roots appear to require to be confined 
in a small space, and the plants rarely 
do well if they are transplanted, un- 
less before the roots have pushed 
through the ball of earth in the pot, 



as the roots seem to dislike fresh soil. 
The pots should be well drained with 
crocks, and care should be taken nei- 
ther to over- water the plants, nor to 
let them become very dry. They are 
propagated by cuttings of the ripe 
wood, which are struck in sand, under 
a bell-glass, but without bottom-heat; 
and which, when transplanted, should 
have balls of earth attached. For 
this reason, only two or three cuttings 
should be put into each pot, and these 
should be as far asunder as possible. 

E'pacris. — Epacridea-. — The 
Epacris is a New Holland shrub, 
which the first settlers mistook for a 
kind of Heath, and which is still called 
the Heath in Australia, where the 
true Heath {Erica) is unknown. 
The E'pacris should be grown in a soil 
composed of turf bog, chopped small, 
but not crumbled, and mixed with 
sand ; and they do best in double 
pots, with moss, kept moist, stuffed 
between ; as, if the hot sun comes on 
the outside of the pot, the tender 
roots, which soon become matted 
round the ball of earth in the pot, 
will be withered, and the plants 
will receive a severe check, if they 
are not killed. The pots should be 
well drained, by filling them about a 
third full of broken pots, or pieces 
of brickbat, the largest of which 
should not exceed two inches in dia- 
meter, and small lumps of freestone ; 
and this will provide a reservoir of 
moisture for the nourishment of the 
roots. The plants should be potted 
high, like Heaths, as the collar is ine- 
vitably rotted, if buried, by the mois- 
ture which is essential for the routs. 
They require plenty of air and light, 
but not much heat ; sufficient to ex- 
clude the frost in winter is quite 
enough for them. Cuttings of the 
young woo l may be struck in pure 
sand, under a bell-glass, and with the 
aid of bottom-heat. See Euf ca and 
Cuttings. 



epilo'bium. 



96 



ERI CA. 



E'phedra. — Gnetacece. — The 
shrubby Horse-tail, or Sea Grape. 
Very curious small evergreen shrubs, 
with jointed branches, and apparently 
without leaves. They grow best in 
sea-sand ; and, when pegged down 
and kept clipped closely, may be made 
to present the extraordinary appear- 
ance of green turf stretching to the 
very brink of the sea, and even co- 
vered by it at full tide. They are 
used for this purpose, Du Hamel tells 
us, in Africa, to cover those dry 
burning sands, and to give the appear- 
ance of an English lawn, where not a 
single blade of grass will grow. The 
berries are wholesome, and, wheu 
ripe, taste like mulberries. 

Epide'ndrum. — Orcliidacece. — 
Parasitic plants, which should be 
grown in a damp stove or orchide- 
ous house, on pieces of wood hung 
up from the rafters for that purpose. 
The roots must be wrapped in damp 
moss and tied on the wood, into 
which they will soon penetrate. These 
plants may also be grown in baskets, 
or cocoa-nuts filled with moss, and 
hung up in the same manner. They 
require to be grown in the shade, and 
kept very moist and very hot. 

Epig;e v a. — Ericaceae. — The 
Ground Laurel. A little creeping 
plant, with white flowers, suitable 
for rockwork. It should be grown 
in sandy peat, and never suffered to 
become too dry. There is a pink- 
flowered variety, which was raised 
by Mr. Milne, nurseryman, Stoke 
Newington. 

Epilo'bium. — Onagracece. — The 
French Willow-herb. A tall showy 
perennial, with, stoloniferous roots, 
only suited to a shrubbery. It re- 
quires no care in its culture ; the 
only difficulty being to prevent its 
overpowering everything else, when 
it is once planted in any situation not 
exceedingly dry. There are several 
wild species of Epilobium common in 



Britain, one of which is called by the 
odd name of Codlings-and-Cream. E, 
alpinus is a pretty little plant for 
rockwork. 

Epiphy'llum. — Cactacece. — One 
of the genera formed out of the Lin- 
nean genus Cactus, by Mr. Haworth, 
and comprising those Cacti that pro- 
duce their flowers on their leaves. 
The genus Epiphyllum is, however, 
now given up, and the plants in it 
are called Cereus by botanists. E. 
(runcatum and E. specidsum, two 
of the best-known species of this di- 
vision of Cacti, are, however, still 
generally called by their original 
names of Cactus truucatus, and 
Cactus speciosus. Both species 
are abundant-flowerers, and require 
only greenhouse heat. C. truncatus 
will grow grafted on almost any other 
species, and it will bear other species 
grafted on it. For culture, see 
Cereus. 

Eka'nthus. — Ranunculacece. — 
The Winter Aconite is a low-growing 
perennial, which is one of the first 
flowers to blossom in spring. It is 
quite hardy, and will grow in any 
common soil ; and it may be easily 
increased by offsets from the roots. 

EriVa.-- Ericacece. — The different 
species of Heaths are among the most 
beautiful of our greenhouse plants, 
and are much more easily grown than 
is generally supposed. The principal 
cause of so many failures is, first, 
that Heaths are generally potted much 
too low, and thus the collar of the 
plant is frequently rotted ; secondly, 
that sufficient attention is not paid to 
watering, as sometimes they are al- 
lowed to be sodden with moisture, 
from the pots being improperly drain- 
ed, and at others kept much too dry, 
by irregular or imperfect watering ; 
and, thirdly, that they are often 
grown on a stone shelf in a green- 
house, or on a balcony during the 
summer, when a powerful sun strik- 



ERICA. 



97 



ERI CA. 



ing on the pot is sure to scorch their 
delicate fibrous roots, or, in the winter, 
shut up among other plants, and 
scarcely allowed any air at all ; in 
either of which cases they are sure to 
perish. These being the principal 
reasons why Heaths do not generally 
succeed, it is now necessary to de- 
scribe what is considered the best 
method of cultivating them. The 
soil most suitable to Heaths is a 
mixture of three parts of well-sifted 
peat to one of white or silver sand, 
thoroughly mixed ; and, if the plants 
are very large, a small portion of 
loam may sometimes be added, though 
this is not often required. In potting 
Heaths, great attention must be paid 
to the drainage ; and, in order to 
render it as perfect as possible, two or 
three moderate-sized potsherds should 
be put over the hole in the bottom of 
the pot ; after which it should be 
filled about a quarter full with very 
small pieces of broken tiles ; and 
over this there should be a thin layer 
of unsifted peat. Above the unsifted 
peat should be a layer of prepared peat 
and sand, and on this the roots of 
the Heath should be placed, and more 
of the mixture of peat and sand shaken 
in among them ; the plants being so 
placed, that the collar may be above 
the level of the mould in the pot, 
when sufficiently full. The compost 
should be pressed tightly into the 
pot ; but a little space should be left 
between it and the rim, to hold water ; 
and as soon as the potting is finished, 
the plant should be set aside in the 
shade, or in a cold frame. 

Heaths, to be well-grown, should 
always be kept in a frame, or house, 
by themselves ; as they are of too de- 
licate a nature to bear the respiration 
from other plants, and they also re- 
quire a very differeut treatment. 
During summer, when in a frame, 
they should be allowed all the air 
that can possibly be given to them, 



and they should be frequently watered 
overhead, as the gardeners call it, 
when the sun is not upon them ; as 
the winter comes on, less air should 
be given, and they should then never 
be watered over their tops ; but still 
in fine weather a little air may be al- 
lowed to them, even during a slight 
frost. It may indeed be taken as a 
proverb, that Heaths like to feel the 
wind between every leaf. When 
grown in greenhouses, Heaths need 
not be watered overhead ; but great 
care must be taken that the roots 
never get dried up, for if they do they 
seldom recover : indeed, these plants 
ought never to be put in greenhouses 
or rooms, except during the season of 
flowering. In very frosty weather, 
the only protection necessary for 
Heaths is a double mat thrown over 
the glass of the frame, and suffered 
to remain there till the frost is gone 
away ; for should the frost affect the 
plants, and they should be afterwards 
exposed to the sun and air, they be- 
come what is called scorched, and 
they will either die, or lose the 
greater part of their leaves. 

Heaths are raised from seed-cut- 
tings or layers, but most frequently 
from cuttings, full details for making 
which have been already given. (See 
Cuttings.) Heath-seed should be 
sown, if foreign, as soon as it arrives ; 
and, if native, as soon as it is ripe. 
For sowing the seed, shallow pots 
or pans should be prepared, in the 
same manner as was described for 
potting, but with rather more sand ; 
and the seed should be mixed with 
a little sand, and scattered over the 
surface of the mould ; after which 
it may be watered, and set on a 
greenhouse shelf, where it may re- 
main till the young plants are about 
an inch high, when they should be 
carefully taken up, and set round the 
edges of pots, about three in a 
thumb-pot, and then replaced on the 

H 



ero'dium. 



98 



ESCALLO^'IA. 



shelf, till they have grown sufficiently 
large to he potted off singly into small 
pots ; when they should he allowed to 
remain a few days in the house till 
they are well-rooted ; after which 
they may be placed in the frame 
Avith the large plants. Heaths in 
pots should never have saucers to 
stand in, and they should be watered 
twice a day in summer, and once in 
winter. 

Eri v nus. -ScrophvlarinecB.— Only 
two species are known, one of which 
is a beautiful little plant with purple 
flowers, which grows naturally on old 
walls, and is admirably adapted for 
rockwork, as it continues flowering 
profusely all the summer. It is in- 
creased by seeds, or by dividing the 
roots; and it requires scarcely any 
soil to grow in, but the most suitable 
is peat, and pounded bricks or lime- 
rubbish. 

Eriobo'trya. — Rosacea. — E. 
japonica, formerly called Mespilus 
japonica, the Loquat-tree of the 
East Iudies, is a very handsome tree 
for planting in a conservatory for its 
noble leaves. It bears clusters of 
white flowers, and yellow fruit. In 
warm situations it will stand in the 
opeu air, but it requires protection 
from severe frosts. It should be 
grown in a rich loamy soil, and is ge- 
nerally propagated by grafting on the 
common Hawthorn. 

Ero v dium. — Geraniacece. — The 
Wild Geranium. The genus Ero- 
dium differs from Geranium and Pe- 
largonium in the shape of its seed- 
vessel. In all the three, the seed-pod 
resembles the head and beak of a 
bird; in Geranium it resembles a 
r.rane's bill, in Pelargonium it is a 
stork's bill, and in Erodium a he- 
ron's bill. Besides these, the late 
Mr. Sweet divided the Geraniacece 
into a great many genera, which are 
now seldom to be met with. The 
Erodiums are dwarf annuals, and 



perennials, with pretty flowers, only 
suitable for rockwork. The tender 
kinds are grown in a mixture of sandy 
loam and peat, and the hardy ones in 
any common garden-soil ; and they 
are increased by seeds, division of the 
roots, and cuttings. 

Ery'simum — Cruciferce. — Hedge 
Mustard. Most of the kinds are ' 
weedy plants, generally biennials, sel- 
dom grown in British gardens. One 
species, E. Perofskianum, an an- 
nual, with dark -orange flowers, intro- 
duced in 1838, has become popular 
from its beauty. E. Ibericum, Dec, 
(Cheiranthus armeniacus, Botani- 
cal Magazine,) a perennial introduced 
in 1803, somewhat resembles E. 
Perofskianum in appearance, ex- 
cept that its flowers are yellow in~ 
stead of orange. These plants grow 
best in sandy peat mixed with a little 
loam ; and they are quite hardy. 

Erythr.e v a. — Genti.ana.cecB. — 
The Lesser Centaury. Little pink- 
flowered plants, mostly annuals, suit- 
able for rockwork. The seeds should 
be sown in autumn in the open bor- 
der, and the plants removed in patches, 
with earth attached, to the rockwork 
in spring. 

Erythri'na. — Leguminosece. — 
The Coral Tree. Stove and green- 
house shrubs, with splendid coral-co- 
loured flowers. E. laurifblia, and 
E. C rista-gatti, will grow in the 
open air, and they will flower magni- 
ficently in a warm sunny border, if 
sheltered by a south wall. The soil 
should be a sandy loam, or loam and 
peat ; and they are propagated by cut- 
tings of the young wood struck in 
sand under a glass, but without bot- 
tom-heat. 

Erythro^nium. — Tulipacece. — 
See Dog's-tooth Violet. 

Escallo'nia. — Escalloniacece. — 
Beautiful shrubs, natives of South 
America, which are nearly hardy in 
the climate of London. They grow 



euge'nia. 



99 



EU^TOCA. 



best in peaty soil, or in very sandy 
loam. E. rubra is generally trained 
against a wall, but E. Monte Vi- 
densis, which produces large clusters 
of white flowers, is grown as a bush. 
Both kinds require protection from 
severe frosts. There are several other 
kinds, hut only the two mentioned 
are in general cultivation in British 
gardens. 

Eschscho'ltzia. — Papaveracece. 
• — Annual plants, with showy flowers, 
natives of California, on which ac- 
count the first species introduced was 
called the Californian Poppy. The 
seeds should be sown in the open 
border as soon as they are ripe, as if 
the sowing be delayed till spring, the 
plants frequently do not flower till 
the second year. Sometimes they 
will live, and flower two, or even 
three years in succession, though this 
is very rarely the case. 

Etiolated. --Drawn up, with weak 
and slender stems — a consequence 
which in hardy plants results from 
want of thinning out in proper time, 
and in greenhouse-plants from being 
kept in too small pots, and too far 
from the light. 

Eucaly'ptus. — Myriacece. — Aus- 
tralian trees of enormous size, some 
species of which are grown in England 
as greenhouse shrubs. They should 
be grown in loam and peat, and are 
propagated by cuttings, which are 
very difficult to strike. 

Euchari'dium . — OnagraricB. — A 
little annual, a native of California, 
nearly allied to the Clarkias. It was 
introduced in 1836, but as it does not 
seed freely it is as yet rare. It should 
be grown in loam and peat. 

Euge x nia. — Myrtacece. — The 
Rose Apple. Handsome shrubs, 
grown as fruit-trees in the East In- 
dies, which produce their splendid 
flowers freely in British stoves. They 
should be grown in a mixture of two- 
thirds sandy loam and one-third peat, 



and are propagated by cuttings of the 
ripe wood, which strike freely. 

Euo'nymus. — Celastrinecs. — The 
Spindle-tree. The common British 
species is well known for its curious 
and very ornamental fruit ; but the 
American kind, E. latifblius, is much 
handsomer both in fruit and foliage. 
It is a very valuable shrub for a small 
garden, as it will continue to thrive, 
and to produce abundance of flowers 
and fruit every year, for many years 
in succession, without increasing much 
in size, or requiring to be cut in. It 
is also ornamental in early spring, 
from the peculiar form of its buds 
and the richness of its dark red brae- 
teas. All the kinds will grow in any 
common garden soil, and they are in- 
creased by seeds or cuttings. 

Eupho'rbia. — Euphorbiacece. — 
Some of the kinds are British weeds, 
such as the Spurge Caper ; but other 
kinds are thorny shrubs, requiring the 
heat of a stove in Britain, and pro- 
ducing flowers of a most brilliant 
scarlet. The most beautiful kind is 
E. fulgens, Karwinsky, E. Jac~ 
quinicejibra, Hook., which was in- 
troduced in 1836 by Mr. Rauch. The 
best plants are raised from seed ; but 
cuttings may be struck by plunging 
them into the bark-bed, and not cover- 
ing them with a glass. The flower- 
ing plants should be grown in loam, 
mixed with lime rubbish, or pounded 
brick. 

Euta'xia. — LeguminoscB. — Aus- 
tralian shrubs, with yellow and orange 
pea-flowers, which in England re- 
quire a green-house. They should 
be grown in light peaty soil, and re- 
ceive the general treatment of Aus- 
tralian shruhs. There are only two 
species. 

Eu^toca. — Boragvaecs. — Hardy 
and somewhat coarse-growing annuals 
and perennials, which require the 
usual treatment of similar plants. 
(See Annuals and Perennials.) 



EVERGREENS. 



100 



EXOGEJfS. 



They will grow in any common garden 
soil, and the annuals should he sown 
in March or April, as, though they are 
natives of California, they are not in- 
jured by heat. 

Evening Primrose. See Oeno- 
thera. 

Evergreens. — No garden should 
be without its due proportion of ever- 
greens ; and these plants are still 
more essential in small gardens than 
in large ones. Their advantages are, 
that they afford a screen to secure 
privacy in winter as well as summer; 
that they preserve an appearance of 
verdure at all seasons ; and that they 
do not disfigure the walks by falling 
leaves, which, where there is no re- 
gular pardener, render it very difficult 
to keep a place neat. They are also 
very useful in affording a rich back- 
ground to those ornamental trees and 
shrubs which produce their flowers 
before their leaves ; suck as the double- 
blossomed Peach, the Almond, the 
Snowy Mespilus, and Magnolia Con- 
spicua. It is the want of evergreens 
that gives the gardens in the neigh- 
bourhood of Paris, and most of the 
other continental cities, such an air 
of meagreness and poverty. But it 
cannot there be remedied, as few 
evergreens will resist the cold of their 
winters. This may appear strange to 
those who have experienced the heat 
of the continental summers ; but the 
fact is, that their winters are as much 
colder than ours as their summers are 
warmer, and thus the average heat of 
the year is nearly the same. Alter- 
nate seasons of great heat and cold are 
favourable to deciduous plants, as the 
heat ripens their wood, and the cold 
gives them a season of complete re- 
pose when they have lost their leaves ; 



but a moist temperate climate like 
that of Britain is more suitable to 
evergreens, which continue in a grow- 
ing state nearly all the year. 

In street gardens, besides the ever- 
green trees and shrubs, it is advisable 
to select a few evergreen herbaceous 
plants, such as Pinks and Carnations, 
Wallflowers, &c, to give an agreeable 
effect to the beds during winter, when 
they are devoid of flowers. 

Evergreen Thorn. — The Pyra- 
cantha. (See Crat;e x gus). 

Everlasting. — See Gnapha n lium 
and Helichry'slm. 

Everlasting Pea. — See La'thy- 
rus. 

Exogens. — Dicotyledonous plants. 
The exogenous plants have received 
their name because the new wood of 
their trees and shrubs is deposited on 
the outside of the old wood, one 
layer being deposited every year. 
Thus the age of a tree may be counted 
by the number of its layers, shown by 
its wood when the trunk is cut down. 
The soil in which the tree was grown, 
and even the weather in the different 
years, may be guessed in the same 
manner ; as the layers of trees grown 
in rich valleys are much thicker than 
those of trees grown in poor soils on 
mountains ; and the layers deposited 
in damp cold summers are thicker than 
those of dry, warm seasons. When 
trees have grown in a wood, with one 
side of the trunk fully exposed to the 
sun, and the other shaded by the other 
trees, a difference is very perceptible 
in the layers. Exogenous trees have 
medullary rays and reticulated leaves. 
All the forest trees of Britain and 
other temperate climates belong to 
this class. 



FENCES. 



101 



FENCES. 



Fan Palm. — See Dwarf Fan 
Palm. 

Feather Grass. — Sllpa pennata. 
— A beautiful kind of grass, well 
■worth growing to form tufts in flower 
borders, from its feathery lightness 
and graceful habit of growth. It 
should be grown in light rich soil ; 
and it is propagated by seeds, or divid- 
ing the roots. 

Ff^dia. — Valerianece. — Horns. 
« — F. cornucopias, formerly con- 
sidered to belong to the genus Vale- 
riana, is a coarse- growing, weedy- 
looking plant, with pink flowers, and 
curious seed-pods, shaped like the 
figures we see of the Cornucopia, or 
Horn of Plenty. It is an annual, 
and the seeds only require sowing in 
the open border. 

Fences for flower - gardens and 
shrubberies, are either such as are in- 
tended to be invisible, or, more pro- 
perly, not acknowledged,-— such as 
barriers of wire, or light iron rods, and 
sunk fences ; or such as are intended 
to be acknowledged, and to form part 
of the landscape, — such as architec- 
tural parapets and b edges. Wire 
fences are commonly formed of light 
iron posts or stakes, through holes in 
which are stretched stout wires, or 
slender iron rods ; or they are formed 
of light iron hurdles, — that is, sepa- 
rate iron-frames, which are placed end 
to end, and can be removed at plea- 
sure. In forming wire fences of stakes 
and iron wires, there is no difficulty 
when the line of direction is perfectly 
straight, or consists of a number of 
straight lines joined together; but 
when the direction is curvilinear, 
some attention is requisite to fix the 
posts in such a manner as to permit 
the wires, which pass through holes in 
them, to be drawn quite tight. To 



F. 

[ admit of this being done, each post 
must be fixed into a piece of wood or 
stone, and supported by a brace on 
. the concave side of the curve ; and 
■ both the block and the brace must be 
buried so far under the soil as not to 
be seen. Fences of this description 
are put up in a very superior manner 
by Mr. Porter, of Thames - street, 
London. Iron, or wire hurdles, are 
too well known to require description. 
When either hurdles or fences, com- 
posed of posts and rods of wire, are 
intended to keep out hares and rabbits, 
the lower parts of them, to about the 
height of two feet, require finer wires 
to be fixed to them, in an upright 
direction, at about three inches apart. 

Architectural fences are used in 
small gardens, close to the house ; 
and they should generally be low 
walls, of open work, in the style of the 
architecture of the building ; and these 
walls may have piers at regular dis- 
tances, terminating in vases, or other 
architectural ornaments, provided 
these are in harmony with the house. 
These walls, and indeed all other 
architectural fenceB, should be varied 
with 6hrubby plants planted against 
them, so as to harmonise them with 
the plants in the beds and borders 
within. 

Hedges may either be of evergreens, 
neatly cut, so as to form living walls 
with standard plants at regular dis- 
tances, to imitate architectural piers ; 
or they may be formed of a mixture 
of different kinds of flowering shrubs, 
with evergreen standard low trees at 
regular distances. No plant makes a 
finer flower-garden hedge than the 
box, the standards in which may be 
formed of Cypresses, Junipers, or 
Arbor Vitas. On a larger scale, the 
Holly makes an excellent hedge, and 



FENCES. 



102 



fica'ria. 



the standards may be of the variegated 
kinds of Holly. For a mixed hedge 
of evergreens and deciduous flowering 
shrubs, the Laurustinus, the Sweet 
Briar, the Pyracantha, and the Cy- 
donia Japdnica, with similar shrubs, 
may be used, with the lower kinds of 
American thorns (CratcB^gus), or the 
flowering Crab [Pyrus spectdbilis), 
as standards. A very excellent flower- 
garden hedge may be formed by train- 
ing the common or the Giant Ivy 
over a slight wire fence or trellis (fig. 
10) ; and its uniformity may be 
broken, if it is very long, by standards, 
at regular distances, either of Ivy, 
trained on iron posts with umbrella 
tops, or of any kind of low decidueus 
evergreen trees. The variegated species 
of Ivy, the Ampelopsis, and a number 
of other climbing shrubs, ligneous 
or herbaceous, also make beautiful 
hedges for shelter or separation in 
flower-gardens. The Arbor Vitse and 
common Laurel, alternating with the 
variegated variety, the narrow-leaved 
variety, and the Portugal Laurel, also 
make excellent flower-garden fences ; 



FIG. 10. 




FENCE. 

as do the evergreen and variegated 
kinds of Privet, the variegated Holly, 
and the Aucuba. In short, there is 



scarcely any ornamental shrub that 
will not form a very suitable fence 
for a flower-garden, when carefully 
trained ; and wire fences, in the 
summer season, may be covered with 
creeping or climbing annuals ; such 
as the Nasturtium, the Convolvulus, 
<fcc, or even the tall-growing Salvias, 
Petunias, Sweetpeas, and Pelargo- 
niums. A very pretty fence of this 
kind may be formed by training the 
common Mignonette over a wire 
trellis ; as it is well known that the 
Mignonette, if sown in autumn and 
kept during the winter in a greenhouse, 
may be trained the following season 
to the height of three or four feet. 
Honeysuckles also make delightful 
fences. 

Fennel Flower. — See Nkhe'lla. 

Ferns are very ornamental in 
shrubberies, from their large and 
handsome leaves, and the curious 
manner in which these unrol when 
the plants first appear in spring. 
Some of the exotic ferns, also, are 
very handsome, and hothouses have, 
in many cases, been set entirely apart 
for them. One of the most interest- 
ing of these is at the seat of W. 
Borrer, Esq., at Henfield, Sussex ; 
the interior of which is formed into 
caves of freestone in the crevices 
between which the ferns grow. Ferns 
disposed in this manner would form 
a very elegant ornament for a grotto. 
Exotic ferns are also the best plants 
for growing in the air-tight glass plant- 
cases, now becoming so fashionable 
in large drawing-rooms. (See Plant 
Cases'.) 

Ferra n ria. — Iridece. — Cape tu- 
berous rooted plants, with very curi- 
ous flowers, and requiring the usual 
culture of similar plants. (See Cape 
Bulbs.) 

Feverfew. — See Pvre v thrum. 

Fica v ria. — Ranunculacece. — The 
lesser Celandine, or Pilewort. A 
British perennial, with bright yellow 



FITNESS. 



103 FLORISTS' flowers. 



flowers, differing from those of the 
common Crowfoot in their petals 
being pointed. It likes a moist shady- 
situation, and will thrive under the 
drip of trees. 

EYcus ela^stica.— The Indian Rub- 
ber tree. A kind of Fig-tree, which 
yields the East Indian Caoutchouc ; 
that used principally in making the 
water-proof clothing is, however, from 
Brazil, and is produced by Siphdnia 
CachucJiu, one of the Euphorbiacese. 
lu both cases the trunk of the tree is 
wounded, and there flows from the 
wound a thick milky juice, which, 
when hardened by exposure to the 
air, becomes the Indian rubber. F. 
eldstica is a favourite stove-shrub in 
England, from its large size, and 
shining leathery leaves; but it very 
seldom produces either flowers or 
fruit ; and, when it does, they have 
no beauty. The plants should be 
grown in sandy loam, and they strike 
readily from cuttings. 

Fig Marigold. — See Mesembry- 
a'nthemum. 

Figwort. — Scrophularia verna- 
lis. — A British plant with yellow 
flowers, growing in moist places. 

Fi'lices.— One of the natural orders, 
which includes all the different genera 
of ferns. 

Fitness in a garden, as in every- 
thing else, is of the greatest import- 
ance in producing a good effect. By 
this term is meant the adaptation of 
plants to the situations fitting for 
them : for example, tall straggling 
growing plants, which have a very 
fine effect in a shrubbery, when backed 
by evergreen shrubs taller than them- 
selves, would entirely destroy the 
beauty of a small garden, laid outinre- 
gular beds. In the like manner, small 
plants, however beautiful they may 
be, are lost among others more ro- 
bust growing. To avoid these incon- 
gruities, the best plan is first to ascer- 
tain, if possible, the habit of growth 



and general appearance of every plant 
before introducing it into a flower- 
garden ; and then carefully to con- 
sider the situation in which it is likely 
to look best. A little care and at- 
tention in this respect, with common 
plants, will have more effect in pro- 
ducing a beautiful flower-garden, than 
large sums laid out in the purchase of 
showy plants without it. 

Flax. — See Lignum. 

Florists' Flowers are those which 
it has been found may be grown to an 
extraordinary size and degree of per- 
fection by taking great pains with 
their culture. The Dutch were the 
first who practised this art with their 
Hyacinths and Tulips ; but their ex- 
ample has been followed by the 
florists of other countries, who, as 
they cultivate their flowers in the 
hope of winning prizes with them at 
flower shows, may be said to use them 
as instruments for gambling. All the 
varieties of florists' flowers are named, 
and every year many new kinds are 
raised, which are eagerly sought for, 
and sell for enormous prices. It is 
thus desirable that all florists' flowers 
should either hybridize freely, or vary 
very much from seed. The principal 
florists' flowers are the Hyacinth, the 
Tulip, the Dahlia, the Auricula, the 
Polyanthus, the Carnation, and the 
Pink ; but to these may be added the 
Ranunculus and the Anemone, and, 
of late years, the Geraniums or 
Pelargoniums, the Heartseases, the 
Calceolarias, and the Chrysanthe- 
mums. Of all the kinds, the Dahlia 
is undoubtedly that respecting which 
there is most gambling and most 
rivalry. It may be observed, that 
the rules by which florists decide as to 
the merits of their respective flowers 
do not depend on any particular beauty 
of colour, and sometimes not even on 
form ; but on certain arbitrary crite- 
teria which they have settled among 
themselves ; as, for example, no Au~ 



FLOWER BASKETS. 



104 FLOWER BASKETS. 



ricula or Polyanthus is admired that 
is what is called pin-eyed, that is, if 
the style projects beyond the stamens ; 
and a perfect Dahlia should not show 
any green in the centre. Thus, as it 
requires to be a florist to know the 
full merit of florists' flowers, they are 
of comparatively little interest to 
amateurs. 

Flos Ado x nis. — See Ado v nis. 

Flower de Luce See This. 

Flower Fence. — See CiESALPi'NiA. 

Flower Baskets. — These may be 
constructed in many different ways ; 
some being intended to appear as if 
set on the ground, and others to be 
raised on pedestals. The former are 
generally constructed with curved 
pieces of iron, furnished with sharp 
spikes for entering the ground, like 
the prongs of a fork ; and these are 
placed so as to form a circle, with 
wires for climbing plants extended 
across it, like the handles of a basket. 
(See fig. 11.) The plants must be 
trained up a wire frame in the centre, 

FIG. 11. 




FLOWER BASKET. 

and thence brought down the wires 
to the curved pieces of iron forming 
the border of the basket. The basket 
may be filled up with flowers or not, 
at pleasure. Other receptacles for 
flowers may be wicker baskets, with 
the interstices stuffed with moss ; or 
the jars in which grapes have been sent 
over; but when these last are used, or 
any other kind of vessel which is very 
deep in proportion to its breadth, the 



lower part should be filled with brick- 
bats, pieces of freestone, and other 
similar materials, to within about a 
foot or six inches of the top. In all 
cases where flowers are grown in bas- 
kets and boxes, they should stand on 
a lawn ; and the most luxuriant grow- 
ing kinds should be chosen, to hang 
down the sides of the vessel. Cap- 
tain Mangles, whose taste in orna- 
mental gardening is well known, 
adopts the baskets fig. 12 and 13 
for suspending from the roof of his 

fig. 12. 




greenhouse. The baskets are made 
of wire, with pots of earthenware or 
china inside. These baskets are alike 
suitable for the creeping Cereus, Mo- 
neywort, and other common plants 
which produce their flowers on hang- 



FLOWER-GARDENS. 105 FLOWER-GARDENS. 



ing stems, as for Epiphytes and 
orchideous plants. When the baskets 



fig. 13. 




FLOWER BASKET. 



are used for Epiphytes, the wire should 
generally he filled with moss, instead 
of having a pot placed in it. 

Flower-Gardens embrace a sub- 
ject on which a volume might be 
written without exhausting it ; but 
the present article will be confined to 
a few general observations, applicable 
in every case ; and to a short notice 
of the different kinds of flower-gardens 
which have been, and are, in most 
general use. 

All flower-gardens, to have a good 
effect, ought to be symmetrical; that 
is, they ought to have a centre, which 
shall appear decided and obvious at 
first sight, and sides ; and all the 
figures or compartments into which 
the garden is laid out, ought to be in 
some way or other so connected with 
the centre as not to be separable from 
it, without injuring the general effect 
of the garden. All the beds and 
borders ought to have one general 
character of form and outline ; that 
is, either curved, straight, or compo- 
site lines ought to prevail. The size 
of the beds ought also never to differ 



to such an extent, as to give the idea 
of large beds and small ones being 
mixed together ; and the surface of 
the garden ought to be of the same 
character throughout ; that is, it ought 
not to be curvilinear on one side of 
the centre, and flat or angular on the 
other. In the planting flower-gar- 
dens the same attention to unity 
ought to he kept in view. One side 
ought not to be planted with tall- 
growing plants, and the other with 
plants of low growth ; nor one part 
with evergreens, whether ligneous or 
herbaceous, and the other part with 
annuals or bulbs. Flower-gardens 
which are intended to be ornamental 
all the year, ought to have a large 
proportion of evergreen herbaceous 
plants distributed regularly all over 
them ; such as Pinks, Sweet Wil- 
liams, Thrift, Saxifrages, and inter- 
mixed with very low evergreen 
shrubs, such as Heaths, Whortle- 
berries, Thyme, Gaulth^ria prociim- 
bens, and a variety of similar plants. 
Flower-gardens which are intended 
to be chiefly ornamental in spring, 
ought to be rich in bulbs and early 
flowering shrubs ; such as the Meze- 
reon, Cydonia, or Pyrus Jap6nica s 
Rhododendron dauricum atrovirens, 
Erica herbacea, &c. ; those that are 
intended to be chiefly ornamental in 
summer, should be rich in annuals ; 
and those that are to be in perfection 
in autumn, in Dahlias. Flower- 
gardens on a large scale never look so 
well as when the spaces between the 
beds are of turf ; but those on a small 
scale may have the spaces between the 
beds of gravel, and the beds edged 
with box. It may be thought by 
some, that a flowering plant would 
look better than box for the edgings 
to the beds ; but no effect is ever 
produced without contrast: and as 
the box is always green, and never 
flowers, it forms a striking contrast to 
beds of flowers in which the leaves 



FLOWER- GARDENS. 



i 



06 



FLOWER-GARDENS. 



are nearly hidden by the blossoms. 
Gravel walks with stone edgings do 
not form a good contrast, as the 
colours of the gravel and the stone 
are too near that of the dry soil of the 
beds. 

All the different kinds of flower- 
gardens may be reduced to the fol- 
lowing : — 

The French garden, or parterre, 
is formed of arabesques, or scroll- 
work, or, as the French call it, 
of embroidery of box, with plain 
spaces of turf and gravel, the turf 
prevailing. The box is kept low, 
and there are but very few parts of 
the arabesque figures in which flowers 
or shrubs can be introduced. Those 
plants that are used, are kept in re- 
gular shape by cutting or clipping, 
and little regard is had to flowers ; 
the beauty of these gardens consisting 
in the figures of the arabesques being 
kept clear and distinct, and in the 
pleasing effect produced on the eye by 
masses of turf, in a country where 
verdure is rare in the summer season. 
These embroidered or arabesque gar- 
dens originated in Italy and France, 
and the}" are better adapted for warm 
climates than for England : they are, 
indeed, chiefly calculated for being 
seen from the windows of the house, 
and not for being walked in, like Eng- 
lish flower-gardens. 

The ancient English flower-garden 
is formed of beds, connected together 
so as to form a regular or symme- 
trical figure ; the beds being edged 
with box, or sometimes with flower- 
ing plants, and planted with herbace- 
ous flowers, roses, and one or two 
other kinds of low flowering shrubs. 
The flowers in the beds are generally 
mixed in such a manner, that some 
may show blossom every month dur- 
ing summer, and that some may re- 
tain their leaves during winter. This 
kind of garden should be surrounded 
by a border of evergreen and decidu- 



ous shrubs, backed by low trees ; and 
in the centre there should be a sun- 
dial, a vase, a statue, or a basin and 
fountain. 

The modern English flower-garden 
has the groundwork of turf, on which 
a system of beds are formed, in such 
a manner as to constitute a symme- 
trical figure ; or, if on a very large 
scale, groups of figures. The French 
flower-garden and the ancient English 
garden were chiefly calculated for be- 
ing seen from an elevated situation, 
so as to show the whole at once ; but 
the modern English flower-garden is 
calculated to be walked through, and 
seen by decrees. The beds are gene- 
rally of roundish or curvilinear figures, 
and they should never be of figures 
with numerous narrow angles, or pro- 
jecting points; because such parts can 
never be properly covered with plants, 
and therefore have always a bad effect. 
These beds are sometimes planted with 
a mixture of flowers alone, and some- 
times with flowers and shrubs ; but 
they are more generally planted, each 
bed with one kind of flower, or one 
kind of shrub, so as to produce masses 
of colour, or of shades of colour, which 
will harmonise with the masses in the 
other beds. The spaces between the 
beds should not he less than two feet, 
for the convenience of walking and 
mowing; and the surface of the beds 
should never be much higher than 
that of the turf, because, if they are, 
they will appear like blotches on a 
lawn. Besides, the plants in the 
highest part of the bed (which should 
be in the centre) will be drier than 
those on the sides, — they will grow 
with less vigour in dry seasons, and 
with too much vigour in moist sea- 
sons, if they are too much elevated ; 
so that the plants in the garden will 
never produce a uniform surface 
throughout. Some beds in flower- 
gardens of this description are entirely 
filled with roses, which are often 



FLOWER-GARDENS. 



107 



FLOWER-POTS. 



pegged down and kept low ; and other 
beds are filled with low evergreen 
shrubs, or with deciduous shrubs 
which have conspicuous flowers, such 
as Rhododendrons, Azaleas, &c. For 
every garden of this kind there is, or 
ought to be, a basin of water, as well 
for effect, as for watering the plants ; 
and if the garden be on a large scale, 
there may be statues, vases, open and 
covered seats, rustic baskets contain- 
ing plants, rockwork, and a variety of 
other objects ; but these require to be 
introduced with great caution, and 
afford an excellent opportunity for a 
lady to exercise her taste in their 
arrangement. In fact, these orna- 
ments, if not well managed, destroy 
the simplicity and elegance of the gar- 
den, and do more harm than good. 
When flower-gardens are close to the 
house, and are intended to be very 
highly kept, the beds are often sur- 
rounded with a low frame-work of 
wire or trellis-work, so as give them 
the effect of baskets of flowers ; and 
this has sometimes a very good effect. 
Very often handles of wire-work are 
appended to these baskets, over which 
are trained beautiful climbing plants, 
such as the Maurandias and Lopho- 
spermums, which flower abundantly 
during the whole summer. 

The architectural flower-garden, or 
Italian garden, always adjoins the 
house, and it is bordered and separated 
from the rest of the pleasure grounds 
by an architectural parapet or wall 
(see Fences). It consists of beds 
symmetrically arranged, with gravel 
or pavement between ; and the beds 
are bordered or edged with stone. 
In other respects, these gardens are 
treated like the old English flower- 
garden. 

Terrace gardens are merely archi- 
tectural gardens, formed on platforms 
adjoining the house, on one or more 
levels, each level being supported by 
a terrace-wall ; but as they are chiefly 



adapted for mansions and places of 
considerable extent, where of course 
a regular gardener must be kept, it 
does not appear necessary to enlarge 
on them here. 

Flowering Fern. — Osmunda re- 

galis A native of Britain, and one 

of the largest and handsomest of the 
British ferns. 

Flowering Raspberry. — Riibus 
odoratus. — See Rc'bus. 

Flowering Rush. — Butomus 
umbellatus. — A British aquatic 
plant, producing pink flow 7 ers. When 
cultivated, the seeds should be sown 
in loamy soil at the bottom of the 
aquarium or pond where it is to 
grow, or in a pot plunged to a con- 
siderable depth ; or it may be in- 
creased by dividing the root. 

Flower-pots are commonly of a 
red porous kind of earthenware, which 
is much better for the plants than 
the more ornamental kinds sold in 
the china shops : which from being 
glazed, and consequently not porous, 
are apt to retain the moisture so aa 
to be injurious to the roots of the 
plants. When china flower-pots are 
used, they should have the bottom 
pierced with several holes instead of 
one ; and they should be particularly 
well drained, by being filled to, at 
least, a quarter of their depth with 
pieces of broken tiles. Glazed pots 
are most suitable for plants kept in 
balconies, where they are much ex- 
posed to the air, as they do not admit 
of transpiration from the sides, and 
consequently the earth contained in 
them does not so soon become dry. 
There are ten sizes of pots in common 
use in British gardens, varying from 
two inches in diameter to a foot and 
a half, which are distinguished as six- 
ties, forty-eights, thirty-twos, &c., 
diminishing twelve every time, from 
sixties up to the largest size which 
are called twos ; the same quantity 
of clay, called a cast, being used for 



FLOWER-STANDS. 



108 



fothergi'lla. 



the two large pots as for the sixty- 
small ones. Besides these there are 
thumb pots, about an inch in diame- 
ter and two inches deep, of which 
there are eighty to a cast; square 
stone pots for raising seeds, or striking 
cuttings, and which are seldom used 
but by nurserymen ; and deep nar- 
row pots for bulbous rooted plants. 
Many other shapes have been in- 
vented to suit particular purposes, but 
the above are the only kinds in con- 
stant and regular use. 

Flower-stands are generally con- 
structed of wire, painted green ; and 
they are so contrived as to hold a 
number of flower-pots. They are of 
various shapes ; some being only large 
enough to hold two or three flower- 
pots, and others, as fig. 14, consisting 
of several tiers, and holding almost as 
many plants as a small green -house. 
They vary very much in form, and 

fig. 14. 















SB 





FLOWER- STAND. 

may be designed to suit the taste. 
Though elegant objects in a garden or 
under a veranda, they are not well 
adapted for keeping plants in a healthy 
state ; as, from the pots in them 
being exposed to the sun and air on 
all sides, the roots are liable to be- 
come withered by the alterations in 
temperature. It is therefore gene- 
rally advisable to keep all the plants 
in flower-stands in double pots, or to 



fill the interstices between the pots 
in the stand with moss. Generally 
speaking, the observations already 
given respecting plants in balconies 
apply to plants kept on flower- 
stands. 

Fluviales. — A natural order con- 
taining water plants. 

Fly Honeysuckle. — The upright 
shrubby species of Honeysuckle, such 
as Lonicera Xylosteum, the common 
fly honeysuckle, and L. Tatdrica the 
Tartarian honeysuckle. — See Loni- 
cera. 

Fly Ophrys. — See Ophrys. 

Fontane v sia. — Oleacece. — A shrub 
or low tree, resembling in its general 
appearance the common privet, but 
with handsomer flowers, which are 
first whitish, but afterwards become 
of a brownish yellow. It is a native 
of Syria, where its leaves remain on 
all the year ; but in the climates of 
London and Paris they drop off in 
the course of the winter. It will 
grow in any common garden soil, and 
it is propagated by layers, cuttings, 
and grafting on the privet. 

Forficula. — See Earwig. 

Forget-me-not. — Myosotis pa- 
lustris. — A British plant worth culti- 
vating for its blue flowers, as well as 
for its name. It is a marsh plant, 
and should be , grown near water. 
M. sylvatica has smaller flowei-6, 
and of a paler blue. The other plants 
belonging to the genus Myosotis are 
known by the popular English names 
of Scorpion -grass and Mouse-ear. 

Forking A mode of stirring the 

ground so as to admit air and mois- 
ture to the roots of plants, without 
disturbing or injuring them, which 
would be unavoidable if the ground 
were dug. 

Formica. — See Ants. 

Fothergi'lla. — Hamamelidece. — 
American dwarf shrubs with large 
handsome leaves, and white fragrant 
flowers. The plants should be grown 



FOUNTAINS. 



109 



FOUNTAINS. 



in a moist peaty soil, and are injured 
by very severe frosts. The flowers 
appear before the leaves. 

Fountains are of two kinds : jets, 
which rise up in a single tube of water 
to a great height, and then fall in 
mist or vapour ; and drooping foun- 
tains, which are forced up through a 
pipe, terminated by a kind of rose 
pierced with holes, called an adjutage, 
which makes the water assume some 
particular shape in descending. The 
principle on which fountains are con- 
structed is, that if a large quantity of 
water be contained in a cistern, or 
other reservoir, in any elevated situa- 
tion, and pipes be contrived from it 
to carry the water down to the ground, 
and along its surface, that the water 
will always attempt to rise to its own 
level the moment it can find a vent. 
When the orifice is large, this incli- 
nation is only shown in a kind of bub- 
bling upwards, as the ascent of the 
water is prevented by the weight of 
the atmosphere above it : but, where 
the orifice is small, the column of 
water will force its way through the 
air very nearly to the height of the large 
body of water from which it descended. 
The height to which a jet of water 
will ascend, therefore, depends on the 
height which the cistern that is to 
supply it is above the ground from 
which it is to ascend ; and on the size 
of the orifice through which it is to 
issue. Something must, however, be 
allowed for the resistance which even 
a slender column of water meets with 
from the air ; and something is also 
lost by the friction of the water on 
the pipes it passes through, if the 
place from which the fountain is to 
play should be far from the supply- 
ing cistern. The time which the 
fountain will play depends on the 
quantity of water which the cistern 
contains ; and the evenness and pro- 
portion of the ascending column of 
water on the diameter of the conduct- 



ing pipe, which should be five times 
the diameter of the orifice. To ex- 
plain this, we will suppose a cistern 
erected on a summer-house twenty 
feet high, and that a fountain is wished 
to play about a hundred yards from 
it, in a right line. Then if the di- 
ameter of the descending and con- 
ducting pipes be two inches and a 
half, and the diameter of the orifice 
for the jet be half an inch, the water 
will rise about eighteen feet high. 
It must be observed that the water 
will rise to a less height in proportion 
to the distance which the fountain is 
from the cistern, the loss by friction 
being about a foot for every hundred 
yards ; and also that if the pipes take 
any bend or curvature, the loss by 
friction becomes greater. The time 
that the fountain will continue to 
play may be calculated by estimating 
the quantity of water the cistern will 
contain, as a jet of the size above de- 
scribed will discharge about sixty-five 
quarts a minute. The pipes should 
be of lead, a quarter of an inch thick ; 
as if they are too slight they are very 
apt to burst and leak, from the great 
weight and pressure of the water ; and 
they should be carried deep enough 
into the ground to be out of the reach 
of danger from frost. They should 
also be so contrived as to present a 
uniform slope towards the point from 
which the jet is to issue ; to prevent 
an accumulation of air, or of sediment 
from the water in the pipes, either of 
which will prevent the fountain from 
playing. 

Drooping fountains do not require 
the water to rise so high for them as 
for jets ; and consequently the cistern 
need not be so much elevated. The 
beauty of fountains of this kind de- 
pends on the adjutages, which are so 
contrived as to throw the water in 
many different forms. For example, 
some are intended to represent a 
dome, and others a convolvulus, a 



FRAMES. 



110 



FRAMES. 



basket, a wheatsheaf, and a variety of 
other devices. The water from these 
fountains is generally received into a 
shell, whence it forms a sort of mi- 
niature cascade to the basin below. 

Four-o'clock -flower. — A kind 
of Marvel of Peru. See Mira'bilis. 

Foxglove. — See Digitalis. 

Frames. — A frame in gardening 
may be described as a bottomless box 
with a cover of glass. The glass is 
fixed in a sash of convenient dimen- 
sions for being taken off, and put on 
again at pleasure, and the sides of the 
box are of such a height as to admit 
of the growth of plants of a foot or 
more high. The back of the frame 
or box is placed towards the north, 
and is generally about the height of 
two feet, and the frame being right- 
angled, the side towards the south is 
usually about one foot or fourteen 
inches in height. The ordinary width 
is from five feet to seven feet, and the 
length may be three or more times 
the width, divided into sashes of two 
and a half feet or three feet broad. 
The frame may be either set on a bed 
of the common soil of the garden, in 
which case, it is merely used for the 
protection of plants from the weather, 
or it may be placed on a bed of fer- 
menting manure, or other materials 
that generate heat, for bringing for- 
ward seeds or tender plants. Some- 
times frames are placed against steeply 
sloping surfaces, or against walls ; in 
which cases the object is to bring for- 
ward plants trained on the wall or 
sloping surface. Frames are of the 
greatest use in gardening ; not only 
for protecting plants that are not 
quite so hardy as those usually 
planted in the open air, especially in 
the winter season, such as Alpines, 
and seedlings of hardy plants which 
are somewhat tender when young, 
but for germinating seeds. Frames 
on beds of dung are commonly called 
Jiot-beds, and are particularly useful 



for raising young plants from seeds, 
striking cuttings, and, in culinary gar- 
dening, for growing crops of such 
plants as Cucumbers, Melons, &c. 
As the air confined within the frame 
is apt to become suddenly heated by 
bright sunshine, or by the fermenting 
material when the open air is tem- 
perate, care must be taken to prevent 
the heat from being at any time 
greater than the plants will bear; and 
this is effected by raising the sashes, 
or lights as they are technically called, 
by wooden wedges placed between 
them and the frame, in the hinder or 
higher part of the frame, so as to 
admit of the escape of the excessively 
heated air. Hence it is desirable 
in all frames, where much delicacy of 
temperature requires to be attended 
to, to keep a thermometer within 
them; and in general, when the tem- 
perature within rises to 60°, to lift up 
the sash and to introduce the wedge 
between it and the back of the frame, 
so as to permit the heated air to 
escape. Frames are sometimes also 
set upon low brick walls, which may 
either be raised above the soil, if it 
should be naturally moist, or sunk 
into it, if it should be naturally dry. 
In such cases, instead of a box of 
boards, the box may be said to be 
formed of brick or stone, on the top 
of which is placed a framing of wood 
to receive the sashes. Such frames, 
or brick-pits, as they are called, are 
used to preserve half-hardy and green- 
house plants during the winter. All 
frames that are used in winter or 
spring should be covered during the 
night, especially when the weather is 
cold, to retain the heat generated by 
the sun, or the fermenting material, 
during the day. This covering is 
generally of bast mats laid on the 
glass sashes ; but it is rendered much 
more effective when the mats are 
kept an inch or two apart from the 
sashes, so as to retain between them 



fiutill'aria. 



Ill 



FROST. 



a 6tratum of air, which, from its non- 
conducting power, greatly lessens the 
escape of heat through the mats. As 
mats are apt to ahsorb the rain in- 
stead of conducting it off, coverings of 
thatch formed of regularly drawn 
wheat-straw or reeds are considered 
preferable ; though such roofings are 
scarcely worth attending to in a small 
garden, where there is perhaps only 
one frame. The best covering of all 
is composed of boarded shutters, 
placed a few inches distant from 
the frame, and this species of. 
shelter is at once neat and durable, 
and calculated to retain a stratum of 
air above the glass, while it effec- 
tually throws off the rain. — See Hot- 
beds and Pits. 

Franco'a. — Francoaceoe, or Ga- 
lactnece. — Handsome plants, most of 
which may be treated either as an- 
nuals or perennials, and may be 
always raised from seed. They are 
nearly hardy, and will grow in any 
common garden soil. F. ramosa, 
with white flowers, is generally kept 
in the greenhouse, and will not admit 
of being treated as an annual. 

Franke^nia . — CaryophyllacecB. — 
Sea heath. Dwarf perennials, which 
should be grown in pots, or on rock- 
work, in a mixture of loam and peat, 
and which are increased by seeds, or 
cuttings. 

Fraxine v lla. — See Dicta'mnus. 

French Berries. The fruit of 
Rhdmnus tinctorius. — See Rha'm- 

■ KUS. 

French Honeysuckle. — See 
Hrdy'sarum. 

French Marigold. — SeeTAGE^TEs. 

Fringe - Tree. — See Chiona'n- 
thus. 

Fritill v aria. — Tulipacece. — 
Hardy bulbous rooted plants, which 
will thrive in any common garden 
soil ; but which do best in sandy 
loam. There are several species. 
They are increased by offsets ; and 



they may remain several years in the 
ground without taking up, and with- 
out receiving any injury. 

Fritillary. — See Fritill^aria. 

Frogbit. — Hydrocharis morsus- 
rance. — A very graceful aquatic, 
with white flowers. 

Frost is injurious to plants in 
proportion to their natural tender- 
ness, and to their succulency, whether 
induced by art, by culture, or the 
season, or the accidental or natu- 
ral moisture of the soil. Hence, to 
protect plants from frost, the first 
step is the thorough drainage of the 
subsoil ; and the next, the use of a 
soil composed of materials which will 
readily permit the escape of water, 
and which, of course, is always com- 
paratively dry. On such a soil, if a 
frame covered with glass sashes be 
placed, and covered with mats, thatch, 
or boards during severe nights, all 
half-hardy plants will be completely 
protected. But there are a great 
many plants in beds, and borders, and 
against walls, which cannot be conve- 
niently protected by these means ; 
and the roots or lower parts of the 
stems of plants thus situated may be 
covered with leaves, straw, litter, 
rotten tan, or any other dry non- 
conducting material which will retain 
air, and consequently prevent the 
escape of heat, and yet throw off 
water. In general, all herbaceous 
plants may be entirely covered during 
winter with such kind of materials ; 
and all ligneous plants will be saved 
from being killed, if the root-stock, 
neck, or collar, be so covered. The 
branches and upper part of the stem, 
if left naked, may indeed be de- 
stroyed ; but if the collar and the 
ground for two or three feet around 
it be thus protected, the life of the 
plant will be preserved, and the next 
spring, if the plant be cut down to 
the ground, it will spring up again 
from the collar. In general, the 



Fl/CHSIA. 



112 



FUCHSIA. 



easiest ligneous plants to protect are 
those which throw up suckers ; and 
the most difficult, those which shoot 
with difficulty from the root or stool, 
such as the pine and fir tribe. The 
easiest plants to protect are those 
which are planted against walls ; be- 
cause the branches can be saved from 
the perpendicular cold by a projecting 
coping, and the roots by litter, leaves, 
rotten tan, &c. What are called 
Alpine plants, which in their native 
country are covered during winter 
with snow, arc best protected by being 
kept in pots, and placed in what is 
called a cold frame ; that is, a box 
covered with glass, placed on the com- 
mon soil of the garden, and conse- 
quently without bottom heat, but 
covered, in severe weather with mats, 
thatch, or boards. Planting herba- 
ceous plants and low shrubs in raised 
masses of soil covered with stone, 
technically called rock-work, is also 
a good means of preserving plants 
which are not quite hardy ; because 
the mass of soil containing the roots 
is thus always more or less dry. 
One of the greatest enjoyments in 
gardening consists in growing the 
plants of warmer climates than our 
own in the open air ; this, in the 
climate of Britain, is not so much to 
be effected by communicating artifi- 
cial heat in the winter season, as by 
protecting them from frost and mois- 
ture. If all gardening were reduced 
to the mere growth of plants which 
were quite hardy, the art would lose 
half its interest. The nice point in 
this, as in many other cases, consists 
in overcoming difficulties ; and the 
pleasure will be great, in proportion 
as these difficulties appear at first 
sight to be insurmountable. 

Fu v chsia. — Onagrarice. — The 
Fuchsias being all natives of South 
America, have till lately been gene- 
rally treated as green-house plants, 
but the greater number are now con- 



sidered to be among the more orna- 
mental of our hardy exotics. They 
grow freely in the open air, and en- 
liven our flower-gardens during the 
whole of the summer with their 
beautiful crimson flowers; and though 
they die down to the ground in win- 
ter they spring up from the root the 
following May, and during summer 
flower profusely. They grow freely in 
a mixture of vegetable earth, or peat, 
sandy loam, and a little well-rotted 
dung, which must be kept moist, but 
by no means sodden. All the species 
strike freely from cuttings of the 
young wood, without bottom heat or 
bell-glass; but they will do better 
with these assistants ; and if planted 
round the edges of pots, in a rather 
more sandy soil than the mother- 
plants have been grown in, and plunged 
into a slight hotbed, and shaded, 
they will be fit to pot off in about a 
month or six weeks. Seeds are fre- 
quently ripened, and many very beau- 
tiful varieties and hybrids have been 
raised in this country. One of the 
finest of these hybrids is F. Stand- 
ishii, raised between F. globbsa and 
F. fulgetis, and figured in the Bo- 
tanical Register for 1840. Seeds ve- 
getate freely if sown as soon as they 
are ripened in a rather sandy soil, on 
a little heat ; and unlike most other 
perennial plants, they will, if grown 
strongly, flower the fii'st year. F. 
Groomii is a splendid kind, and was 
raised by Mr. Groom, of Walworth, 
from seed of F. globosa. The fol- 
lowing kinds are the best for growing 
in the open air, F. globosa, F. c&- 
nica, F. virgata, F. microphylla 
with small flowers, and F. gracilis ; 
which last, though naturally a hand- 
some shrub, about four feet high, may 
be trained to a single stem so as to 
form a small tree, in the following 
manner. The first point is to select 
a healthy young plant that has a 
strong leader, and talcing it into a 



FlfCHSIA. 



113 



FURZE. 



forcing house, to remove its lateral 
branches and leaves to about half its 
height. The plant must then be 
kept constantly growing for two years, 
till it has attained the required height ; 
during which period it must be fre- 
quently shifted into larger and larger 
pots ; the lateral shoots and leaves 
must be taken off as fast as they 
appear. When the plant has acquired 
the height of eight or ten feet, it may- 
be suffered to have a little rest ; that 
is, it may be taken out of the hot- 
house, and placed in a greenhouse, 
when it will lose its leaves, and cease 
growing ; for it must be observed, 
that while kept constantly growing by 
heat and moisture in the hot-house, 
it will retain its leaves during winter, 
contrary to the usual habits of the 
genus. The following spring, when 
the plant begins to grow, the top 
should be pinched off, when it will, 
in the course of a few months, pro- 
duce a beautiful head, covered with 
flowers ; and in this state, if set in 
the centre of a bed of Fuchsias on a 
lawn, or in a flower-garden, it will 
have a very pleasing effect. F. ful- 
gens is a tuberous-rooted species, 
with herbaceous stems, which natu- 
rally die off after the plant has pro- 
duced its seeds. When this is the 
case the root requires to be kept 
quite dry till the following spring, 
when it may be brought forward by 
putting it into a hot-house, or plung- 
ing it into a hotbed. Young cut- 
tings of this species strike as freely 
as any of the other sorts ; but they 
require care, as they are liable to 
damp off. In some cases, a single 
leaf has struck, the roots proceeding 
from the thickened part at the base 
of the petiole. F. arbor escens forms, 
in its native country, a handsome 
low tree ; but in England it proves 
much more tender than the other 



species, and succeeds best in the 
stove, where it deserves a place on 
account of its fine foliage, and its ter- 
minal heads of lilac flowers. It 
grows very freely from cuttings, which 
often attain the height of five or six- 
feet in one year. F. discolor is a 
hardy species, a native of Port Fa- 
mine, near the Straits of Magellan, 
but it is not very handsome, from the 
dingy colour of its flowers. F. coc- 
cinea is interesting from having been 
the first Fuchsia grown in England, 
and the only one known in this 
country for many years ; it having 
been introduced in 1788 ; while the 
oldest of the others (F. gracilis) was 
not introduced till 1823. F. coccinea 
should be kept inthe green-house. All 
the Fuchsias hybridize freely with 
each other, and vary very much from 
seed, which most of the kinds ripen 
every year. The fruit is a dark 
purple berry, which when ripe is 
eatable. 

Fuma x ria. — Fumariacece. — Pretty 
little plants with curiously shaped 
flowers, which grow best on calcareous 
or sandy soils. The annual kinds 
should be sown with other annuals in 
March, April, or May ; and the pe- 
rennial species are increased by divi- 
sion of the root. Some of the kinds 
are now called Corydalis. 
Fumitory. — See Fuma x ria. 
Fu'nkia. — Hemerocallidaceee .— 
The Japan Day-lily. Bulbous-rooted 
plants that were formerly considered 
to belong to the genus Hemerocallis. 
They are natives of China and Japan, 
and are grown in the open air in Eng- 
land. F. ccerulea is quite hardy and 
will grow anywhere, but F. alba re- 
quires a warm dry border, as do the 
newly introduced species. They are 
all very ornamental, and some of then*, 
are fragrant. 

Furze. — See U v lex. 



I 



GALA'XIA. 



114 



GARDENS. 



G. 



Ga\jea. — Asphodelacece. — Pretty 
little European bulbous plants, gene- 
rally with small dingy yellow flowers. 
They should be grown in sandy soil, 
and will not require taking up iu win- 
ter. The plants belonging to this 
genus were formerly considere to be- 
long to Ornithogalum. Gagea lutea 
or fascicularis is a British plant. 

Gailla'rdia. — Composites. Very 
showy herbaceous plants, natives of 
America, some of which are annuals 
and others perennials. They grow 
best in peat soil. G. Drummondi 
or picta, and G. pulchella, or bi- 
color as it is called in the seed-shops, 
are annuals ; and their seeds should 
be sown on a slight hotbed in Febru- 
ary or March ; or in the open ground 
in the same months, and covered with 
a hand-glass, or flower-pot turned 
over them, to preserve them if the 
weather should be frosty when they 
come up. It is necessary to sow tbe 
seeds of these plants in February or 
March, as they are a long time before 
they come into flower. The true G. 
bicolor is a perennial species, now 
called G.lanceolata, which should be 
grown in a peat border, and kept mo- 
derately moist ; it is propagated by 
seeds or division of the root. 

Gala'nthus . — Amaryllidacece, — 
The Snowdrop. The common British 
snowdrop, G. nivalis, is well known 
both in its single and its double state; 
but G.plicdnthus, the Russian snow- 
drop, is not so common. They both 
require a light rich soil, and they will 
thrive under the drip of trees. They 
are increased by offsets. 

Gala'xia. — IridacecB. — Dwarf 
bulbous-rooted plants, natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope, and generally 
with large yellow flowers. They 
should be planted in very sandy soil, 
and either taken up, or kept dry by | 



covering with a hand-glass during win- 
ter. When grown in pots, the soil 
should be heath-mould, or very sandy 
loam. 

Gale'ga. — Leguminbsce. — Goat's 
Rue. Weedy looking plants, with 
small purple or white flowers, about 
the size of the common vetch, and 
bluish green leaves. They grow freely 
in any common soil, but they require 
a great deal of room, from their tall 
and bushy stems. 

Galinso'gea. — Composites — G. 
trilobata is a well-known showy 
Mexican annual, with rich orange- 
yellow flowers, which will grow in 
any common soil, and may be sown 
in March, April, or May. Like so 
many other plants, Professor De Can- 
dolle has changed its name ; and it is 
now called Sogalgina trilobata. 

Ga'lium. — RubiacecB. --Btdstr&vr. 
Perennial and annual plants, some of 
which are aquatics, generally with 
yellow or white flowers ; natives of 
Europe, and several of them British 
weeds. They will grow in any com- 
mon soil, but they prefer sand or 
peat. 

Gardens, in floriculture, may be 
described as separate scenes for the 
display of ornamental plants. The 
forms of these gardens or scenes are 
different ; some being laid out in 
beds, the prevailing forms of which 
are curvilinear; and others in beds, 
of which the prevailing forms are 
rectangular, such as squares, parallel- 
ograms, octagons, polygons, &c. In 
some gardens, the beds have the forms 
of particular styles of architecture, 
such as of the Gothic, Grecian, Eliza- 
bethan, &c. ; and these latter forms 
have given rise to what are called 
styles or manners in laying out gar- 
dens. Hence we have gardens in the 
Gothic style in which the forms of 



GARDENER. 



115 



GARDENIA. 



Gothic architecture prevail, others in 
which the Grecian forms prevail, and 
so on. In all these styles the great 
art is to adopt such forms as are fa- 
vourable to the cultivation and dis- 
play of plants ; and for this purpose 
roundish forms, or such as have ob- 
tuse angles, are preferable to long 
narrow forms, or such as have acute 
angles ; because the former are more 
convenient for stirring the soil, and 
the surface is more readily covered 
with plants, without at the same time 
causing the plants to spread over the 
boundaries. Hence long narrow forms 
are generally covered to excess by the 
plants spreading over the outline on 
tbe walks or spaces between; and in 
acute-angled forms the angles are not 
sufficiently covered. See Flower- 
Gardens. 

Gardener. — To keep a flower-gar- 
den in perfection, it is necessary to 
have a good gardener, unless the 
amateur understands how the various 
operations of gardening are to be per- 
formed sufficiently well to be able to 
direct an indifferent gardener, or a 
common labourer, how to execute 
them. The difference in wages be- 
tween a common gardener, and a man 
who understands his profession, is 
commonly about 20/. or 30/. a year ; 
as an ordinary gardener generally 
costs about 205. or 25s. a week, 
without lodging, while for 30s. a 
week with lodging, a gardener may 
be obtained who understands the pro- 
pagation and culture of all ordinary 
plants, and how to keep a garden in 
good order. Thus, those persons who 
wish to hare a show-garden, will find 
it the best plan, if their grounds are 
large, to employ a good gardener, and 
to leave everything to his direction, 
(for a really good gardener will not 
bear to be interfered with), allowing 
him to employ labourers as he may 
think proper ; but if the grounds be 
small, this plan will be found too ex- 



pensive, and it is generally best to 
contract with a nurseryman to keep 
the garden constantly in order, and. 
full of plants during the whole sum- 
mer. This plan is frequently fol- 
lowed in the neighbourhood of Lon- 
don ; and, as an example of the 
expense, I may mention that Mr. 
Hopgood, of the Bayswater nursery, 
contracts to supply Captain Mangles, 
whose house and garden in Cambridge 
Terrace are so much and so deserv- 
edly admired for their show of flowers, 
for 70/. or 80/. a-year, keeping the 
beds and boxes full of plants and 
flowers from March to November. 
This is by far the most economical 
plan ; for, as before observed, a first- 
rate flower gardener cannot be ob- 
tained under 70/. or 80/. a year. 
The great enjoyment of gardening, 
however, in my opinion, is only to 
be obtained by the amateur who gar- 
dens himself, and who understands 
the principles or reasons upon which 
each operation is founded ; and there- 
fore, I should recommend all persons 
fond of gardening, and especially 
ladies, who have sufficient leisure, 
to manage their gardens themselves, 
with the assistance of a man to per- 
form the more laborious operations. 
It sometimes happens that a man- 
servant in the family, who is not 
overburdened with indoor duties, will 
answer this purpose ; but it is gene- 
rally preferable to employ a man 
who has been brought up as a gar- 
dener. 

Gardenia. — Rubiacece. — The 
Cape Jasmine, greenhouse and stove 
shrubs, most of which are natives of 
the East or West Indies, with large 
and handsome flowers, which are 
generally white. G. florida, the 
common Cape Jasmine, obtained its 
English name from its having been 
first brought to England, from the 
Cape of Good Hope, where it was 
found cultivated in a garden, it being- 
i 2 



ga'rrya. 



116 GATHERING FLOWERS. 



a native of China. All the species 
should be grown in a compost of loam 
and peat ; and they all require a 
moist heat. They are propagated by 
cuttings of the young wood, struck in 
sand, under a glass, and with bottom 
heat. 

Gard^oquta. — Labiates. — Half 
shrubby dwarf plants, mostly natives 
of South America and Mexico ; one 
species of which, G. Hookerii, com- 
monly called the Scarlet Thyme, 
which is a native of South Carolina, 
is very handsome. It should be 
grown in sandy peat and loam, in 
well-drained pots ; and the plants 
should be plentifully supplied with 
water while they are in a growing 
state. It is nearly hardy, only re- 
quiring protection from frost, and it 
will continue flowering for several 
months. By frequent re-potting, and 
careful management, this plant may 
be greatly increased both in size and 
beauty ; and it looks very well 
trained over a wire frame. 

Garide'lla. — Ranunculacece. — 
A very curious-looking hardy annual, 
which will grow in any common gar- 
den soil ; but which is seldom now 
found except in botanic gardens. 

Garland Flower. — See Hedy'- 
chium. 

Garlic Flower. — See Allium. 

Ga'rrya. — Garry acece. — A hardy 
evergreen, introduced only a few 
years since, and which produced its 
very handsome long pendulous spikes 
of blossoms, or catkins, for the first 
time in England in October, 1834. 
These spikes are produced in bunches 
of eight or ten together; and they 
are frequently above a foot long. It 
is quite hardy, and should be grown 
in a loamy soil, where it will conti- 
nue flowering all the winter, in defi- 
ance of the cold. It is a most striking 
object, not only from the great 
abundance of its long, slender, grace- 
ful catkins, but from its dark green, 



glossy, and leathery leaves. It is 
readily increased by layers, or cut- 
tings, struck in sand under a glass. 

Gastrolo'bium. — LeguminoscB. 
— Australian greenhouse shrubs, with 
a profusion of small orange flowers. 
For their culture, see Australian 
Shrubs. 

Gates are only necessary in flower- 
gardens, where they are inclosed by 
hedges, walls, or sunk or wire 
fences, and the gate ought always 
to bear some kind of relation to the 
fence. A wire or iron fence, may 
have a wire or iron gate, but it should 
be always of the simplest construc- 
tion ; a rustic fence, should have a 
rustic gate : and a wall or a hedge 
commonly a close gate, or a boarded 
gate with stone or brick piers. Where 
a flower-garden is surrounded by a 
sunk fence composed of a sunk wall, 
and a fosse or ditch, the gate may in 
some cases be of iron between stone 
piers, and in others of light twisted 
wire. In all cases of this kind, the 
geueral harmony of the scene must 
be taken as a guide ; and care taken 
that the gate neither appear too con- 
spicuous, nor too insignificant. 

Gathering Flowers for bouquets 
or nosegays, should always be per- 
formed when the plants are dry ; 
otherwise, when tied together in a 
nosegay, the compressed leaves are 
liable to rot. The sprigs or shoots 
containing the flowers, or in the case 
of monocotyledonous plants, such as 
the Narcissus, the Hyacinth, &c, 
the flower stems, should always be 
taken off so as not to injure the leaves 
which remain on the plant ; and in 
branching plants, such as the rose and 
all dicotyledonous herbaceous plants, 
the sprigs should be cut off at the 
back of a bud, otherwise in a short 
time an unsightly naked portion of 
the stem will remain on, which will 
at last wither, and disfigure the living 
plant. The branches should always 



GETSSORHfZA. 



117 



GENTIA X NA, 



be cut off, and not broken ; as it is 
extremely difficult to break off a 
brancb without injuring the portion 
that remains on the tree. 

Gathering Seeds is an interesting 
operation ; because it carries the mind 
forward to another year, and another 
generation. It should not be per- 
formed till the seed -pods are full- 
grown, which is easily known by the 
tendency of some of them to burst. 
It should always be done when the 
pods are perfectly dry, and conse- 
quently, after the warmest part of the' 
day rather than before it. The pods 
after being gathered should be laid in 
papers or in saucers, and exposed to 
the air in a dry place in the shade ; 
and after being thoroughly dried they 
may either be tied up in papers with- 
out being opened, or the seeds taken 
out, the husks removed, and the 
clean seeds tied up and preserved in 
a dry place. 

Gaulthe^ria. — Ericaceae. — D warf 
hardy shrubs, natives of North Ame- 
rica, with flowers like the Arbutus, 
and berry-Jike fruit which is good to 
eat. Both the species should be 
grown in peat, or heath mould ; they 
are quite hardy, and will thrive under 
the drip of trees. They are propa- 
gated by layers. G. Shallon prefers 
a shady situation, where its roots 
may always be kept moist; and it 
will grow well and produce abund- 
ance of flowers and fruit in the closest 
parts of London. 

Gau v ra. — OnagracecB. — Curious 
hardy annual and biennial flowers, 
natives of North America, nearly 
allied to Clarkia, and requiring only 
the usual culture of their respective 
kinds. — See Annuals and Bien- 
nials. 

Geissorht za. — IridacetB. — Tile 
Root. Beautiful little bulbous plants, 
which were formerly considered to be- 
long to Ixia. G. Rocheana, the 
Plaid Ixia, is particularly beautiful; 



and. the whole plant is not above six 
inches high. The bulbs are not larger 
than a pea. All the species are na- 
tives of the Cape, and require a little 
protection during winter, though more 
from heavy rains than frost, if the 
bulbs are left in the ground at that 
season. If, however, they have been 
planted on a dry sandy bank, they 
may be left without any covering. 
All the species, from their low stature 
and the brilliancy of their flowers, 
look exceedingly well in pots. In 
this case they should be grown in 
sand and peat, or very sandy loam, 
and the pots should be well drained, 
with cinders. 

Gelse v mium. — Apocynece. — A 
pretty climbing evergreen shrub, gene- 
rally kept in the greenhouse or con- 
servatory, and generally known as 
Bignonia sempervirens , a native of 
South Carolina. It is grown in a 
compost of sand and peat, and it is 
propagated by cuttings struck under a 
glass. 

Geni'sta. — Legumindsce. — There 
are above fifty distinct species of 
Genista, most of which will live in 
the open air in British gardens, but 
some of which are greenhouse shrubs. 
They are all very handsome, from the 
profusion of their bright yellow pea- 
flowers. The greenhouse kinds should 
be grown in peat and loam, and are 
propagated by cuttings under a glass, 
which should be taken off frequently 
and wiped, or they will damp off. 

Gentian. — See Gentiana. 

Gentia'na.— Gentianacece.-- Well- 
known plants, generally with pretty 
flowers, and tonic properties. G. 
acaulis is frequently used as an edging 
plant, and it is remarkable for the 
brilliant colour of its flowers, which 
are large, and of a deep mazarine 
blue. All the Gentians require abun- 
dance of free air, and will not grow 
well in the smoky atmosphere of a 
town. They should be grown in a 



GEOMETRIC GARDENING. 



118 



gera'nium. 



light rich soil, and do best in a mix- 
ture of loam and peat, enriched with 
a little vegetable mould. G. acaulis 
does best in peat alone. The peren- 
nial kinds are increased by dividing 
the root, and the annual ones by seeds, 
which should be sown as soon as ripe, 
as, if left till spring, they will not 
come up till the second year. 

Geometric Gardens. — This style 
of gardening is that in which the 
shape of the ground, of the beds, of 
the walks, and even of the shrubs, 
is regular, or symmetrical ; such as 
may be formed on paper by a rule 
and compasses. The ground, if ori- 
ginally flat, is reduced to a general 
level surface, over which the beds, or 
borders, are distributed so as to form 
figures either simply regular, — such as 
squares and parallelograms, repeated 
one after another — or squares and 
parallelograms, and circles or ovals, 
or other curvilinear figures, — so ar- 
ranged as to be symmetrical ; that 
is to say, that one half of the figure 
formed by the whole shall correspond 
with the other half. When the sur- 
face is naturally irregular or on a 
slope, it is thrown into different levels, 
which are joined by steep slopes called 
terraces, generally covered with turf, 
and ascended and descended by stone 
steps. Each of the levels is laid out 
either regularly or symmetrically, in 
the same manner as if the whole were 
only one bed ; but the figures are of 
course smaller. Small trees or ever- 
green shrubs are distributed among 
the figures, and especially on each 
side of the main walks ; and these 
trees or shrubs ought, in strict ac- 
cordance with the style, to be cut or 
clipped into regular shapes ; such as 
cones, pyramids, balls, candelabras, 
statues of men or animals, arcades, 
columns, or other architectural fig- 
ures. In modern practice, this is 
generally neglected ; but its omission 
is a defect, for cut trees are as essential j 



to the geometric style, as having the 
ground cut or shaped into artificial 
surfaces. For the mode of cutting 
trees and shrubs into regular shapes, 
see Topiary ; and, for laying out the 
beds so as to form a regular figure, 
see Parterre. 

GeraVium.— GeraniaceG.—TheTe 
are few plants more easily grown, or 
that better repay the care of the cul- 
tivator, than Geraniums, or, as they 
are more properly called, Pelargo- 
niums. All the half-shrubby kinds 
require a light rich soil, composed of 
well-rotted manure, leaf mould, sand, 
and a little loam, kept moderately 
moist. A cool greenhouse, where the 
sashes can frequently be thrown off, 
and a balcony or window, not too 
much exposed to the sun, are the best 
adapted for them ; and in such situa- 
tions they may be kept during the 
whole year, only requiring, when in 
full flower, to be slightly shaded from 
the sun, to prolong the blossoming 
season. Geraniums are readily pro- 
pagated at almost any season, by cut- 
tings of the points of the shoots, which 
will strike readily in the same soil as 
that in which the plant is grown, with- 
out either a glass or bottom heat. 
The nurserymen, however, generally 
take their cuttings off the points of 
the shoots, and plant them in the 
autumn round the edges of pots filled 
with light rich soil, and plunged into 
a moderate hotbed. When the cut- 
ings are sufficiently struck, which will 
be in about six weeks, they may be 
potted into single pots ; or if there 
should not be room in the greenhouse 
for so many pots, they may be placed 
on a tolerably dry shelf, near the 
glass, till the following spring, when 
those that are wanted may be potted, 
and the rest reserved for planting out 
in open ground, to bloom in the bor- 
ders during the summer. Geraniums, 
to make fine plants, and to produce 
abundance of flowers, should be fre- 



GERANIUM. 



119 



gera'nium. 



quently repotted into larger and larger 
pots, during March, April, and May ; 
and, should the weather he rather 
cold, or the plants backward, a little 
fire put into the greenhouse at night 
will have a good effect in promoting 
luxuriant growth and the formation 
of blossoms. Immediately after the 
plants have flowered, they should be 
cut down nearly to the ground, or they 
will always present an etiolated un- 
healthy appearance. By thus cutting 
them down, abundance of fine young 
shoots will be produced by the autumn^ 
which should be thinned out, and 
those taken out used as cuttings. In 
this manner, good bushy plants are 
insured, and plenty of young plants 
provided for the next year. Many 
hundreds of beautiful varieties of 
Geraniums have been raised from 
seed, the more remarkable are cross- 
breeds ; that is, those raised from a 
plant the stigma of which has been 
fecundated by pollen from the anthers 
of another variety of the same species. 
In this respect, cross-breeds differ from 
hybrids, which are raised from seed 
fecundated from a plant of a different 
genus, or, at any rate, a very different 
species. The use of cross-breeding is 
thus rather to improve plants, by 
crossing them with others having a 
better habit of growth, or more bril- 
liant coloured flowers, than to raise 
new and striking varieties ; and, for 
this purpose, the plants chosen for 
the parents should be such as would 
be greatly improved by admixture 
with another. For example, a fine 
bright coloured flower, on a plant of 
a loose and bad habit of growth, might 
be crossed by a plant of a dwarf habit, 
the flowers of which were not beauti- 
ful, and so on. The plant that is 
intended to bear the seed should be 
carefully watched, and, just before the 
pollen bursts, the stamens should be 
cut off. The operator must then 
wait till the Btigma becomes covered 



with moisture exuding from it ; and 
then, but not before, the pollen from 
the other plant must be applied with 
the point of a penknife, or the hairs 
of a camel's hair pencil. Should the 
cells of the anthers of the one plant 
burst before the stigma of the other 
becomes moist, the pollen may be 
collected, and kept in paper, till the 
stigma is ready to receive it. In some 
cases, pollen has been kept good in 
this manner for two years ; but the 
moisture of the stigma should be taken 
advantage of as soon as it appears, as 
it soon dries up, and cannot be re- 
stored artificially. The best time for 
performing the operation seems to he 
about the middle of a bright sunny 
day ; and, as soon as it is done, a bit of 
string, or a strand of bast-mat, should 
be tied round the stem of the flower, 
that the seed-pod may be known. As 
soon as the seeds are ripe, they should 
be sown immediately in shallow pans 
of light sandy soil, and set on a green- 
house shelf, where they may be suf- 
fered to remain during the winter. 
Many of the young plants will come 
up by spring, when they should be 
immediately potted off into single 
pots, and treated as before recom- 
mended for cuttings. 

The following mode of grafting 
Geraniums is abridged from the 
" Floricultural Magazine" for May 
1840. The stocks should be of the 
strongest and healthiest kinds, about 
two or three years old, and rendered 
bushy by frequent transplanting, and 
pinching off the leading shoots. The 
year before they are wanted as stocks, 
they should be cut down in August 
to within three eyes (or buds) of the 
base of each shoot. In the following 
May the stocks should be transplanted 
into fresh pots, a size larger than their 
old ones ; and, early in June, they 
should be " cut down to a clear grown 
part of the shoot, about two inches 
from the last year's wood." The 



geropo'gon. 



120 



GLADIOLUS. 



stock should then be left two or three 
days to bleed, that is, to suffer the 
exuherant sap to escape ; after which 
it may be grafted in the whip or side 
manner, without a tongue ; care being 
taken to choose " well-ripened shoots, 
about three inches long, for scions." 
The principal difficulty arises from 
the succulent nature of the Geranium 
shoots ; as, if the bark be bruised or 
wounded during the operation, the 
grafts will not take ; and they are 
also very easily broken off after- 
wards. 

The herbaceous and tuberous-rooted 
Geraniums require a much more sandy 
soil ; and, when they have done flow- 
ering, they should be put on a dry 
shelf, near the glass, and very spar- 
ingly watered till the spring, when 
they may be repotted, and treated as 
above. These may be propagated by 
cuttings, or division of the roots, in 
rather dry and sandy soil, and they 
rarely perfect their seeds in our green- 
houses. 

The old genus Geranium has been 
divided by modern botanists into fif- 
teen genera ; three, of which are quite 
distinct, and have been already men- 
tioned under the head of Erodium. 
The kinds usually grown in green- 
houses belong to the genus Pelargo- 
nium ; and of these there are nearly 
six hundred distinct species, besides 
innumerable cross-breds, hybrids, and 
varieties. 

Germander. — See Teu v crium. 

Geropo'gon. — Compositce. — Old 
Man's Beard. There is only one 
species of this genus, G. glaber, a 
native of Italy, and which is a very 
curious plant. It is an annual, hav- 
ing a smooth stem and leaves, and 
growing about a foot high. The 
flowers are flesh-coloured, and expand 
in the form of a star only when the 
sun shines upon them. The seeds 
are very curious, and it is from them 
that the plant takes its English name. 



They should be sown in the open 
border, in any common soil, in March 
or April, and the plants will flower 
in July and August. 

Gesne v ria, or Ge'snera. — Gesne- 
riacece. — Showy hothouse plants, 
generally with scarlet flowers. They 
require a light rich soil, and are pro- 
pagated by cuttings struck in sand 
under a bell-glass, with the aid of 
bottom-heat. 

Ge x um. — Rosacea. — Avens. Per- 
ennial plants, natives of Europe and 
America, with very handsome flowers. 
G. Quellyon, Swt. (G. cocc'meum, 
Bot. Reg.), is a splendid plant, a 
native of Chili, with large orange- 
scarlet flowers. All the species are 
hardy, and require a light rich soil ; 
they are propagated by seeds, or di- 
viding the roots. 

Gi'lia. — Polemoniacece. — Beauti- 
ful annual flowers, natives of Cali- 
fornia, which only require sowing in 
spring or autumn in the open border. 
See Californian Annuals, and An- 
nuals. 

GithVgo. — Silenacece, or Caryo- 
phyllacece. — The Corn Cockle. A 
British weed, sometimes cultivated in 
flower-gardens. 

Glades are open spaces of turf 
among shrubs or trees, of irregular 
shapes, without definite boundaries, 
so as to give the idea of something 
beyond them, of which the extent 
cannot be guessed. They should 
vary in width, and be of the most 
irregular shapes ; the types being the 
open glades which appear in forest or 
copsewood scenery. Their beauty in 
pleasure-grounds depends much on 
the smoothness or high-keeping of the 
turf, and on the varied ground out- 
line of the branches of the trees or 
shrubs which repose on it. 

Gladiolus. — Iridacece. — The 
Corn Flag. The Gladioli or Corn 
Flags are bulbous plants, with long 
spikes of showy bell-shaped flowers ; 



GLASS CASES. 



121 GLASTONBURY THORN. 



and they are nearly all natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope. The hulbs, or 
rather corms, are solid, and do not 
require taking up if they can be kept 
dry during winter. The best mode 
of doing this is by fixing a frame with 
sashes over them, as this allows of 
giving them air when fine. When 
grown in pots, the soil should be very 
sandy loam, enriched with decayed 
leaves, and the bulbs should be kept 
entirely without water, from the time 
the leaves decay in autumn, till they 
begin to grow the following spring. 
Many cultivators take the bulbs out of 
their pots every September and renew 
the soil ; but others only take them 
up every third year. At Spofforth, 
Yorkshire, where the soil is a rich 
yellow loam, there are clumps of 
Gladioli, which have been left undis- 
turbed in the open ground for more 
than twenty years, and which flower 
magnificently every summer. The 
only protection given, is covering the 
clump in autumn two or three inches 
thick with dry leaves, which are swept 
up from the neighbouring shrubbery, 
formed into a heap, rising highest in 
the centre, and sloping down on every 
side. 

Glass Cases are of two kinds, — 
those which are intended to cover 
plants in the open air, and those which 
are used for covering plants in rooms, 
or on the outsides of windows, bal- 
conies, &c. Glass cases for the open 
air may be made of any convenient 
size or form, so as to cover the plants 
to be protected ; and sometimes they 
are glazed on every side, though at 
others they are placed against a wall, 
and only glazed in front and at the 
ends. The frame- work may be of 
wood, or of iron or zinc, so contrived 
as to separate into pieces, and join to- 
gether in any temporary manner, in 
order that the gardener may be able 
to admit air, or to remove the case 
entirely, at pleasure. A common 



hand-glass mav be designated the 
smallest description of glass cases, 
and a portable greenhouse the largest. 
Glass cases for rooms consist of two 
parts, a body or box, containing the 
mould and plants, and a hand-glass, 
or glazed case, for placing over it. 
This case, which may be square or 
oblong, two feet wide and four or 
five feet long, should fit into a groove 
in the box containing the plants ; and 
the plants, when planted and watered, 
will require no more attention for 
several weeks, or even months, ac- 
cording to the kind intended to be 
grown. Hyacinths planted in such a 
case in November, and placed in a 
room, will require no attention, ex- 
cept perhaps a little water, till they 
have done flowering in the following 
March. Ferns and Cacti will require 
no attention for a year ; but plants 
which come soon into flower, such as 
China Roses, or indeed any plants 
which are coming into flower when 
planted, require to be removed when 
they have done flowering, and to be 
replaced by others. The glazed frames 
for such cases should be of mahogany 
or metal, and of neat and accurate 
workmanship ; and plate or German 
glass ought to be employed. Excel- 
lent plans for such cases will be found 
in the Gardeners' Magazine for 1839 
and 1840. 

Glasswort. See Salicornia. 

Glastonbury Thorn. — A variety 
of the common Hawthorn, that blos- 
soms about Christmas. The legend 
is, that Joseph of Arimathea having 
struck his staff into the ground to 
indicate where Glastonbury Abbey 
was to be built, prayed, that if he had 
fixed on the right place, the Holy 
Virgin would give him a sign of her 
approval, when instantly the staff 
(which was a branch of hawthorn) 
struck root, and shot forth leaves, 
flowers, and fruit. The original tree 
of this variety grows near Glaston- 



GLORIO v SA. 



122 



gly'cine\ 



bury ; but plants, grafted from it, are 
common in all the nurseries. 

Glau'cium. — Papaveracece. — The 
Horned Poppy. A British plant, 
common on the shore between Brigh- 
ton and Shoreham, with glaucous or 
bluish-green leaves, and large yellow 
flowers. The pods are long and horn- 
like, whence the English name. The 
species are annuals or biennials, and 
should be grown in a chalky or cal- 
careous soil. The seeds are common 
in all the seed-shops. 

Glecho'ma. — Labiates. — The 
Ground Ivy. There are two species; 
one with blue flowers, which is a 
British weed ; and the other, the 
flowers of which are pink, which is a 
native of Hungary. They will both 
grow in any common soil ; and, be- 
ing perennials, are increased by divi- 
sion of the roots. 

Globe Ajmarantha. — See Gom- 

PHHJ^NA. 

Globe Flower. — See Tro'llius. 

Globe Thistle. — See Echinops. 

Globula'ria. — Globular ina. — 
The Blue Daisy. Perennial and 
suffruticose plants, with round heads 
of blue flowers, most of which require 
a green-house in England. All the 
species grow freely in a mixture of 
loam and peat, and are propagated by 
cuttings under a glass. 

Glorio v sa. — Tulipaceas G. su- 

perba is a magnificent plant, which 
deserves cultivation in every hot- 
house. It is propagated by seeds, 
which ripen freely ; or by dividing 
the roots, which, after the division, 
which should be in January or Feb- 
ruary, should be potted in rather 
small, but deep pots, and plunged 
into a bark-bed, where they should 
have very little water till they begin 
to grow. In March or April the 
plants should be removed to larger 
pots ; and, while they are growing, 
they should be abundantly supplied 
with water. The stems will require 



to be supported by a stake or trellis ; 
and, if allowed sufficient heat and 
moisture, they will grow rapidly, and 
flower beautifully. When the stalks 
die down, the pots containing the 
roots should be removed to a dry 
stove, where they should be kept 
entirely without water till January or 
February, when the roots should be 
divided and repotted. The soil should 
be composed of one-fourth of peat, 
one-fourth of leaf mould, and two- 
fourths of loam. 

Glory-pea. — See Clia'nthus. 

Glossology. — A knowledge of the 
technical terms of botany. 

Gloxi'nia. — Gesneridcece. — Very 
handsome plants, with bell-shaped 
flowers, that require the heat of a 
stove ; hybrids have, however, been 
lately raised between this genus and 
Sinningia, which prove much hardier 
than their parents. The commonest 
kinds of Gloxinia are G. maculata, 
which is apt to become so weak from 
the great number of its suckers, that 
unless they are removed as soon as 
they appear, it will seldom flower ; 
and G. speciosa, which flowers abun- 
dantly. The former species is pro- 
pagated by division of the root, and 
the latter by cuttings, which strike so 
freely without a glass, that even a 
leaf taken off with the base of the 
petiole entire, will take root, and 
make a handsome plant. All the 
species should be grown in a compost 
of loam, peat, and sand, or in very 
sandy loam and vegetable mould ; 
and, when beginning to grow, the 
plants should be well supplied with 
heat and moisture. The pots should, 
indeed, stand in a saucer kept half 
full of water. 

Gly'cine\ — Leguminosoe. — 
Climbing, tender plants, with pea- 
flowers. The Linnaean genus Gly- 
cine, has been divided by modern 
botanists into eleven genera, the best 
known of which is Wistaria. Wista- 



GLY'CINE. 



123 



GNAPHA N LIUM. 



ria Consequana, chinensis, or sin- 
ensis, sometimes called by its "old 
name of Glycine sinensis, is one of 
the most valuable climbing trees that 
"will grow in the open air in Britain. 
This tree, which, though now so com- 
mon, was only introduced in 1816 or 
1818, is a native of China, and ap- 
pears to be quite hardy in the neigh- 
bourhood of London. Its large 
bunches of beautiful shaded lilac 
flowers, which are fragrant, are ex- 
actly like those of the common la- 
burnum, except in colour ; and they 
are produced most abundantly, the 
tree, in favourable situations, often 
bearing a second crop. 

The Wistaria sinensis will grow 
in any common garden soil ; but it 
does best when the soil is light and 
rich, and the plants are abundantly 
supplied with water. It is often 
several years before it flowers, as it 
takes a long time to establish itself ; 
but the period of its flowering may be 
hastened by watering it regularly with 
liquid manure, or by telling the house- 
maid to empty the slops and soap-suds 
on the ground near it — taking care to 
pour the liquid on the ground at a 
distance from the stem of the plant, 
as it would injure the collar if poured 
on it. All watering is, indeed, most 
effectual when it is given at some dis- 
tance from the stem of the plant, as it 
is only the spongioles at the extreme 
points of the roots that can take up 
the moisture so as to be of any ser- 
vice ; and water, if poured on any 
other part that is under ground, is in 
danger of rotting both the epidermis 
and the cellular tissue. "When once 
established, the Wistaria grows vi- 
gorously, and the plant in the Hor- 
ticultural Society's garden at Turnham 
Green being checked in its height by 
that of the wall against which it grows 
being only eleven feet, has spread so 
far on each side, as to cover a space 
of above three hundred feet in extent. 



It is easily propagated by layers, as 
the shoots, if laid down, will throw out 
roots at every joint. It may also be 
propagated by cuttings of the roots 
and branches, and even by leaves, 
which will take root if planted in 
sand and peat, and covered with a 
glass, provided care, has been taken to 
break the petiole off the branch with- 
out wounding the protuberance at its 
base. Seeds of this plant are very 
rarely ripened in England ; but when 
they are, they vegetate as readily as 
those of the common laburnum. The 
plant requires a wall or trellis-work 
to support it ; but any aspect will do. 
Mr. Pamplin, of the Lavender Hill 
Nursery, has a plant which is trained 
against three sides of his house ; viz. 
the north, the east, and the south ; 
and the only difference he perceives 
is, that the flowers on the south 
wall expand first, but are the weakest 
and palest, and that those on the 
north, though they are the latest, 
are the darkest and most vigorous. 
The Wistaria sinensis, though so 
beautiful, is by no means dear, as a 
plant costs from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. in 
the nurseries, according to its size — 
a plant of the latter size being the 
largest that can be transplanted with 
safety. 

Glycyrrhi v za. — LeguminbscB. — 
The Liquorice. A perennial plant 
with small pale blue flowers, a native 
of the south of Europe. The liquorice 
is made by boiling the root (which 
resembles that of the ginger in ap- 
pearance) a long time, and letting the 
moisture evaporate from the sediment. 
The plant is not worth cultivating 
except from curiosity ; but when it is 
grown, it requires a very rich mould. 

GnaphYlium. — Composites. — 
Cudweed. This genus now includes 
only about half the number of species 
that it formerly did, six or seven new 
genera having been formed out of it. 
The British species are cottony look- 



GODE V TIA. 



124 



GOMPHRENA. 



ing weeds, and very few, if any, of the 
foreign kinds are worth cultivating. 
The French Immortelle, of which 
such quantities are sold near the 
Cemetery of Pere la Chaise, and 
which used to he called Gnaphalium 
orientale, is now removed to the 
genus Helichrysum. — See Helichry*- 
sum. 

Gni'dia. — Thymelacece. — Very 
pretty green-house plants, which are 
rather difficult to cultivate, from the 
great delicacy of their roots. They 
should he grown in a mixture of sand 
and peat, or in what is called heath- 
mould ; and they should never he suf- 
fered either to flag for want of water, or 
to stand in saucers full of it. All the 
species are rather difficult to propa- 
gate ; but the best way is to take off 
the tips of the shoots when quite 
young, and to plant them in pure 
sand under a bell-glass. 

Goat's Beard. — See Tragopo^gon. 
Goat's Rue. — See Gale v ga. 
Goat's Thorn. — Astragalus 
Tragacdntha. 

Gode v tia. — Onagracece. — The 
purple-flowered kinds of (Enothera, 
or Evening Primrose, have been di- 
vided from the others and formed 
into a genus, under the name Godfitia, 
by Professor Spach, a German botan- 
ist, residing in Paris. Professor 
Spach formed thirteen other genera 
out of Oenothera, but only this one 
appears to have been generally ad- 
opted. The handsomest species of 
Godetia are G. rubicunda, G. vin- 
bsa, and G. lepida, all natives of 
California, introduced in 1835, and 
all of which may be sown in Sep- 
tember, like the other Californian an- 
nuals. See Annuals. The other 
kinds are also all hardy annuals, 
which require no other care than 
sowing in March or April in the 
open border, in any common garden 
soil, and thinning out when they 
come up, if tbey appear too thick. 



All the Godetiasare rather tall grow- 
ing plants, and, if not thinned out, 
they will become drawn up and etio- 
lated. If the plants appear weak, 
they should be tied to slender stakes. 
They bear transplanting well. The 
colours are most brilliant when grown 
in a poor soil ; but the plants are 
smaller and less vigorous. A rich 
soil makes them produce more leaves 
than flowers. 

Golden Rod. — See Solida'go. 

Golden Saxifrage. — See Chry- 
sosple nium. 

Golden TnisTLE.Sc6lymus gran- 
diflbra. 

Goldfu'ssia. — Acanthacecs. — A 
new name given by Professor Nees 
Von Esenbeck to Rutllia aniso- 
phy/la. 

Goldylocks. — Ranunculus auri- 
cbmus. 

Gompholo'bium. — Leguminbsce. — 
Australian shrubs, which require to 
be kept in a green-house in England, 
and to be grown in very light loam, 
peat, and sand. All the species are 
very difficult to preserve ; and they 
are all very tender, delicate plants. 
They require to be trained to a frame ; 
and they are easily killed, either by 
too much or too little water. They 
are propagated by seeds, which ripen 
frequently ; or by cuttings of the 
young wood, which must be struck in 
sand, under a bell-glass. 

Gomphre'ua. — Amaranthacece. — 
The Globe Amaranth. This is sup- 
posed to be the Amaranth of the 
poets, which, from the durability of 
its flowers, was considered to be the 
emblem of immortality. It seems to 
have been used at funerals in the 
time of Homer, as he describes it as 
worn by the Thessalians at the funeral 
of Achilles, and it is still used for the 
same purpose in various parts of the 
Continent. The plant is a tender 
annual, which should be raised on a 
hot-bed or in a stove, and which, 



GORDO* NI A. 



125 



GRAFTING. 



even when in flower, should be kept 
in the green-house. It should be 
grown in a light rich soil, and kept 
rather dry. Sometimes it is propa- 
gated by cuttings, struck in mould 
under a hand-glass ; and plants raised 
in this manner are generally much 
hardier than those from seeds. 

Gongo'ra. — OrchidacecB. — Curi- 
ous epiphytal plants, natives of the 
tropics, which require the usual treat- 
ment of orchideous plants, and are 
generally grown in a moist stove, or 
orchideous house, in baskets of moss, 
or on a piece of wood hung up to the 
rafters. Sometimes they are grown 
in pots, in peat and sand, mixed 
with pieces of broken stone or lime 
rubbish. The flowers hang down 
from the root, and require to be 
shaded from the direct rays of the 
sun. They are increased by division 
of the root ; and, when grown in 
pots, the pots should be half filled 
with potsherds. 

Gono'lobus. — Asclepiadacece. — 
Climbing plants, with dark red flowers, 
which require the heat of a stove. 
They should be grown in a mixture 
of loam and peat ; and they may be 
increased by cuttings. The flowers 
are more curious than beautiful. 

GorWnia. — Ternstrcemiacece. — 
The Loblolly Bay. This plant, 
though in its native country, the 
swamps of North America, it becomes 
a tree fifty or sixty feet high, is in 
England rarely more than a sub-ever- 
green bush, the height of which sel- 
dom exceeds five or six feet. It is 
nearly allied to the Camellia, and it 
has large, white, sweet scented flowers, 
and handsome leaves. It should be 
grown in peat earth, kept moist, in a 
low sheltered situation ; but it is 
quite hardy, and will grow in any soil 
or situation, flowering abundantly 
when of very small size. It is gene- 
rally propagated by layers ; but when 
seeds are imported, they should be 



sown on wet moss, as they are said 
only to germinate well on that sub- 
stance. 

Gossy'pium — Malvaceae. — The 
Cotton Tree. These plants, most of 
which are natives of the East Indies, 
require a stove in England. The 
flowers are large and handsome, re- 
sembling those of the Mallow, and 
the seeds are enveloped in a soft, 
white, woolly substance, which is the 
cotton. This substance is often pro- 
duced in England. All the cotton 
plants are herbaceous, and most of 
them are biennials ; and they all re- 
quire a rich moist soil, and abundance 
of heat. They are propagated by 
seeds and cuttings. 

Grabo'wski, — Solanacece. — The 
new name for Lycium Boerhavice- 
fblium. See Lycium. 

Grafting is the art of taking a 
shoot from one plant and uniting it 
to another, in such a manner as that 
it shall grow and thrive as well as if 
it were planted in the ground. A 
grafted plant consists of two parts ; 
the stock, which must have a root, 
and the scion, which is united to the 
stock by the operation of grafting. 
The scion is commonly a shoot of the 
preceding year's growth ; but, in some 
cases, it may be a shoot of the same 
year's growth, or it may be of the 
growth of two or more years. The 
stock should be a well-rooted plant, 
fixed in the soil, with a stem of at 
least as great a diameter as that of 
the scion, but the stem may be much 
larger, and of several years 1 growth. 
Grafting is commonly limited to 
woody plants, and it is only within 
certain limits that it can be performed. 
To be united together by grafting, it 
is necessary that the plants be of the 
same nature ; and, generally, that 
they be of the same genus, or family ; 
though, in some cases, all the genera 
of a tribe will graft on one another. 
Thus, any kind of Camellia may be 



GRAFTING. 



126 



GRAFTING. 



grafted on any other kind of Camellia 
or Tea Tree, but not on any other 
genus ; while any kind of Pyrus 
may not only be grafted on any other 
kind of Pyrus, but also on Crataegus, 
Mespilus, Sorbus, Cydonia, and per- 
haps several others. 

The primary cause is probably to 
be found in the organisation of the 
respective tissues of the plants, those 
uniting which are alike ; but as this 
can only be determined by micro- 
scopic observation, and only then by 
the most acute vegetable auatomists, 
the safe rule in practice is to limit 
our attempts at grafting to species of 
the same genus. 

The uses of grafting are various. 
By grafting a weak growing species or 
variety on a strong growing kind, the 
weak growing variety becomes more 
vigorous; and, consequently, a large 
and handsome plant is much sooner 
produced than could be done by 
layers, cuttings, or seeds. On the 
contrary, by grafting a strong growing 
plant on a weak, low, or slow-grow- 
ing stock, dwarf plants are produced, 
and thus specimens of large trees may 
be obtained within a very limited 
space. Plants may be propagated by 
grafting that cannot be increased 
readily by any other mode ; as is the 
case with common fruit trees. The 
shoots of seedling plants grafted on a 
stock of several years' growth, will 
sooner produce blosoms and fruit 
than when left to grow on their own 
roots. 

There are various kinds of graft- 
ing ; but they are all founded on this 
essential condition, viz. that the inner 
bark of the scion should be closely 
united to the inner bark of the stock. 
Where the scion and the stock are of 
the same thickness, this may be done 
at both edges ; but where the stock 
is thicker than the scion, it can only 
be done at one edge, which, however, 
is found sufficient. The kinds of 



graftiug best adapted for ladies, are 
the common splice, or whip-grafting ; 
slit, or cleft-grafting ; side-grafting, 
and inarching. 

Whip, or splice-grafting, is re- 
presented in the cut fig. 15, in which 
a is the scion, and b the stock. In 

fig. 15. 




WHIP, OR SPLICE GRAFTING. 

this case, both scion and stock are of 
the same thickness ; both are cut 
slanting, so as exactly to fit ; and 
there is a dovetail notch in the stock 
for the scion to rest on. When the 
scion has been perfectly fitted to the 
stock, it is tied with a strand of 
matting, as shown in the figure, and 
afterwards covered with grafting-wax, 
or grafting-clay, the modes of making 
which will be given afterwards. There 
are different variations of this mode of 
grafting. Sometimes the dovetail 
notch is omitted, and at others a 
tongue is formed in the scion, and a 
slit made in the stock, into which it 
is inserted ; this tongue serving the 
purpose of the dovetail notch, viz. to 
keep the scion in its place. When 
the stock is of much larger diameter 
than the scion, the appearance of this 
graft is, of course, quite different, and 



GRAFTING. 



127 



GRAFTING. 



the latter is put on at one side, in 
order that its inner bark may he 
closely united with that of the stock. 
This is the common mode of grafting 
fruit trees in the nurseries. 

Slit, or cleft-grafting, is performed 
by first cutting over the stock, and 
next making a slit or cleft in it ; then 
paring the scion on both sides, so as 
to form a wedge, narrower at the inner 
edge ; and, after inserting it in the 
cleft, tying it and claying it as before. 
This mode is well adapted for grafting 
one succulent plant on another ; as, 
for example, in the Cacti tribe, graft- 

fig. 16. 




GRAFTING THE CACTI. 

ing an Epiphyllum on a Pereskia, as 
shown in Jig. 16, or for grafting ligne- 

fig. 17. 

a 




GRAFTING THE PEONY. 



ous Peonies on the tubers of herbace- 
ous ones, as shown in figs. 17 and 18. 
In fig. 17, a is the stock already 
notched ; and, in fig. 18, b is the pre- 
pared scion, and c the grafted plant. 



fig. 18. 




GRAFTING THE PEONY. 



Side-grafting is shown in figs. 
19 and 20, in which/ is the stock, 
from which a portion is cut out, 
against which the scion e, also some- 
what thinned down, is to be applied 
and made fast, as shown in fig. 20 at 
g. This being done, the graft is 
covered with grafting-wax or clay, as 
usual. It will be observed, that by 
this mode the head of the stock is not 
cut off, but is left on, in order to draw 
up the sap, and also to prevent the 
stock from being disfigured in the 
event of the death of the scion. Thei'e 
is another mode of side-grafting, 
which is much more certain of suc- 
cess, in which the head of the stock 
is cut off, as shown in fig. 21, in 
which it will be observed, that the 



GRAFTING. 



128 



GRAFTING. 



lower end of the scion is inserted iu a 
bottle of water, to supply it with mois- 
ture ; a practice which, though not 
absolutely necessary, is found advan- 
tageous. In this kind of side-grafting 
the scion and the stock are cut as 
shown in fig, 19. Formerly, Cam- 
ellias were very frequently grafted in 
this manner, as shown in fig. 21. 

fig. 19. 




STOCK AND SCION PREPARED FOR SIDE- 
GRAFTING. 

Inarching differs from the other 
kinds of grafting, by preserving the 
scion attached to the parent plant till 
it has become united with the stock 
in such a manner as to derive its 
nourishment from it. For the mode 
of performing the operation, see In- 
arching. 



To graft with success, the opera- 
tion is best performed in spring, im- 
mediately before the buds of the scion 
begin to expand ; and, in general, the 
scion ought, in this respect, to be in 
advance of the stock ; a result which 
is obtained by cutting off the scions 
from the parent plant in the winter 
season, and inserting their ends in the 

FIG. 20. 




SIDE-GRAFTING WITH THE SCION BOUND 
ON" THE STOCK. 

soil in a cool shady place in the garden 
till they are wanted in spring. In 
performing the operation, it is neces- 
sary to have a very sharp knife ; for 
if the slightest roughness is left on the 



GRAFTING. 



129 



GRAFTING. 



parts of the scion and the stock which 
are to be united, their perfect union 
cannot be effected. The operation 
ought also to be performed with ra- 
pidity, so as to expose the naked sec- 
tions of the scion and stock for as few 
moments as possibe to the atmo- 
sphere. "When the plants to be grafted 
are in pots, they should immediately 
afterwards be placed in a gentle heat, 
and kept moist; and, if covered with 

fig. 21. 




GRAFTING, WITH THE END OF THE SCION 
IN A BOTTLE OF WATER. 

a bell-glass, so much the better. The 
latter practice may be considered as 
essential in the case of grafted orange 
trees, Camellias, Rhododendrons, 
Daphnes, Arbutus, Magnolias, &c. 
Grafts made in the open air, on very 
small plants, may sometimes be co- 
vered with hand-glasses, or slightly 
sheltered or shaded till they have 



begun to grow ; and the soil may be 
covered with litter, or rotten tan, or 
leaves, to retain the moisture. Where 
no pains are spared, the soil may be 
warmed immediately after grafting, 
by watering it with a few pots of hot 
water. After the scion has made 
shoots a few inches in length, the 
clay may be removed and the matting 
loosened ; but care must be taken not 
to do this too soon. The proper time 
may always be known by observing 
whether the edge of the scion exhibits 
a granulating process, closely uniting 
it with the stock. Tn general, in the 
course of the month of August, all 
the matting from plants grafted in the 
open air may be removed ; and with 
those under glass, this may be done 
much sooner. 

Grafting clay is made of clayey 
loam, or brick-earth, mixed with 
about a fourth part of fresh horse- 
dung, free from litter, and a portion 
of hay cut into pieces about an inch 
in length, adding a little water, and 
beating the whole together for several 
hours. On a small scale, however, 
this preparation is not necessary ; as 
either moist clay alone, or cow- dung, 
may be plastered over the graft, and 
covered with moss, or even with 
coarse paper ; the moss, or paper, 
being tied on with matting. The use 
of the covering is to exclude the air, 
and consequently to retain the moisture 
of the scion and stock, and also an 
agreeable degree of temperature, in 
order that the vessels of the two 
woods may be able to unite. 

Grafting wax is composed of bees- 
wax and pitch, with some tallow, and 
a little rosin ; at first melted and 
mixed together, and afterwards heated 
as wanted. The proportions are of no 
great consequence. The mixture is 
kept in an earthen pot, in which it 
may be heated when wanted ; and it 
is laid on with a brush till it is a 
quarter of an inch thick ; and, if 
K 



GRAVEL. 



130 



GRAVEL. 



covered with dry sand while it is still 
soft and warm, it will not be likely to 
melt and fall off, which otherwise 
would probably be the case. 

Grains of Paradise. The berries 
of Cocculus mdicus. 

Grape Hyacinth. See Musca v ri. 

Grasses. There are but very few 
ornamental kinds of grass that are 
Avorth cultivating in a garden ; and 
the most remarkable of these are the 
Quaking Grass, BrXza media, and 
the Feather Grass, Stipa pennata. 
The Italian reed, Arundo Dbnax, 
and its variety, the Ribbon Grass, 
A. D. versicolor, are very orna- 
mental ; but they are reeds rather 
than grasses, though they belong to 
the same natural family, Gramineas. 
For a list of the grasses proper for 
laying down a lawn, or grass plat, 
and their qualities, see Lawn. 

Gravel is in universal use for 
forming walks in Britain ; as sand is, 
for want of gravel, on the Continent. 
The grand desiderata in gravels are : 
the quality of binding, or forming a 
smooth compact body, not liable to be 
disturbed by the feet in walking ; and 
a good colour which shall harmonize 
agreeably with the grass and trees, 
&c, around it. It is a very common 
practice in forming gravel-walks, to 
use the gravel as it comes from the 
pit, and, after it is laid down and 
rolled, to cover it with sand taken 
from the same gravel by screening or 
sifting ; but unless this sand be of a 
binding nature from its containing a 
good deal of iron, it soon separates 
from the rough gravel below, and is 
removed by sweeping. Gravel, whe- 
ther consisting of large or small stones, 
or particles, if laid down when per- 
fectly dry, very seldom can be made 
to bind ; and, under such circum- 
stances, it forms a rough, moving, 
and consequently a most disagreeable 
surface to walk on. A remedy for 
evils of this kind, which is sometimes 



successful, is to strew over the walk 
Roman cement in powder, then to 
rake it so as to incorporate the pow- 
derd cement with the surface of the 
ground to the depth of two or three 
inches, and immediately afterwards to 
water it thoroughly, and roll it till it 
becomes quite hard and smooth. This 
is one of the best modes of forming a 
permanent and agreeable gravel-walk 
on a steep slope ; it is also an excel- 
lent mode in small gardens, where 
the object is to save labour in keeping, 
and to prevent the growth of weeds. 
Sea-shore gravel, which is generally 
mixed with sand and shells, can only 
be rendered firm by this process, or 
by one which destroys its colour, viz. 
mixing it with tar or gas liquor. 
When so mixed, however, it forms a 
very durable walk, though it is of a 
dark and disagreeable colour. Next to 
these modes, the best means is to 
break a number of small stones, or 
pebbles, into fragments; and if this 
be done with about one-third of the 
quantity of gravel to be used, and the 
fragments intimately mixed with the 
round pebbles, the gravel, when 
thoroughly rolled with a very heavy 
roller, will bind. The finest gravel in 
the world is composed of the debris of 
flints, such as the Kensington gravel ; 
and this kind, which has hitherto been 
found in only a few parts of England, 
is sent to every part of the world. 

It must always be remembered, 
that broken angular pieces of stone, 
whether large or small, will bind 
much better than round pebbles ; and 
if with the broken stones be mixed a 
ferruginous clay, which is generally of 
a reddish, brownish, or yellowish co- 
lour, and the whole be rolled imme- 
diately after it is laid down, it will 
harden by exposure to the atmosphere, 
and will become quite firm and smooth. 
If, however, the rolling should be ne- 
glected for a few days, the particles of 
rusty earthy matter will become bar- 



GRAVEL. 



131 



GREENHOUSE. 



dened individually in a loose state ; 
and even if rolled afterwards, they 
will never become quite firm. It 
must also be observed, that large and 
small stones do not bind well toge- 
ther ; and hence all gravel, as soon as 
it is taken from the pit, should be 
sifted through a wire screen, the 
wires of which are only sufficiently 
wide apart to admit stones of the size 
of a moderately large gooseberry, and 
all the larger stones should be thrown 
on one side to be broken. The gravel 
that has passed through the screen 
should then be examined, and if it 
be found mixed with too much earthy 
matter, it should be again sifted 
through a wire sieve, sufficiently fine 
to allow only the earth to pass 
through. Part of the earthy matter 
should then be well mixed with the 
gravel and broken stones, in the pro- 
portion of one third of each, and the 
whole should be laid evenly on the 
walk, and rolled immediately. 

When gravel walks have become 
loose from time or frequent sweeping, 
or from the gravel being originally of 
a bad quality, they may be rendered 
firm by forking them over; and, after 
raking out the largest of the stones, 
and breaking them, mixing the gravel 
with equal parts of sand and ferrugi- 
nous clay in a somewhat moist state ; 
rolling the whole as soon as the ma- 
terials have been equally spread over 
the walk. If, however, neither sand, 
nor ferruginous clay can be easily pro- 
cured, burnt common clay powdered 
may be mixed with the gravel ; the 
clay having been burnt by spreading it 
on the furnace of a hothouse, or by 
mixing it with faggots, and then set- 
ting fire to the whole ; but in this 
case also, care must be taken that the 
mixed clay and gravel are watered 
after they are laid down, and imme- 
diately after rolled. 

There are various substitutes for 
gravel. Where colour is- the object, 



as well as firmness and smoothness, 
there is nothing better than burnt 
lumps of clay, reduced to a very 
coarse powder, and slightly mixed 
with Roman cement. Where colour 
can be dispensed with, a most effective 
garden-walk, and one which will last 
for many years, may be formed of the 
scrapings of public roads, which have 
been made, or metalled , as road-makers 
term it, with granite, or other coarse 
stone, mixed with tar, laid down to 
the depth of six inches on a bottom of 
broken stone, and smoothly and firmly 
rolled. The different kinds of asphalte 
so laid down also make smooth and 
durable walks ; but they are too ex- 
pensive for general use. Where no 
gravel can be procured, granite or 
other stone, broken very small, and 
firmly rolled, will make a very dura- 
ble walk, though the colour is far 
inferior to that of fine yellow gravel. 
For laying out walks, and the mode 
of preparing the foundation of gravel 
walks, &c, see Walks. 

Greek Valerian. — See Pole- 

MONIUM. 

Greenhouse. — A structure for 
growing those plants in (more parti- 
cularly in the winter season), which 
will not endure the open air of British 
winters. It may be of any form, but 
the most convenient is a square or a 
parallelogram, with upright glass in 
front, sufficiently high to admit of 
walking upright under it immediately 
within the glass ; and with a sloping 
roof, at such an angle as readily to 
throw off the rain. This roof, for 
the better receiving the sun's rays, 
should face the south, south-east, or 
south-west, and this is called the 
aspect. The front should seldom be 
lower than seven feet in height, and 
the height of the back should be about 
two-thirds of the width of the house. 
The space within is generally laid out 
so as to have a shelf in front, about 
two feet high from the ground, and 
k2 



GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



132 



GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



two or three feet in width ; and next 
there is a path two or three feet in 
width ; the remainder of the floor, 
from the edge of the path to the back 
wall, being occupied with a series of 
shelves, rising one above another like 
the steps of a staircase, on which the 
pots of plants are to be placed. These 
shelves may be nine inches or a foot 
in width, and the height of one above 
another may also be nine inches or 
one foot. The mode in which arti- 
ficial heat is communicated to such a 
house is by smoke flues, or hot water 
pipes. The fire should be at one end, 
or behind the house, whichever may 
be most convenient ; and the principal 
flue or hot-water pipe should be along 
the front wall, under the shelf ; or, 
in some cases, it may be under the 
path. The reason for this position of 
the flue or pipe is, that heat always 
ascends ; and, consequently, if the 
source of heat were placed under the 
back of the house, the heat would 
ascend directly to the roof at the 
upper angle of the house, and would 
scarcely heat the lower or front part 
at all. In order to admit of ventila- 
tion, the front sashes should open out- 
wards, or slide along a groove ; and 
the roof sashes should also open by 
sliding the one over the other. Other 
minor details need not be here entered 
into, as they are perfectly understood 
by all constructors of greenhouses, 
whether of wood or iron. With re- 
spect to these two materials, iron ad- 
mits of the greatest variety of shape, 
such as a curvilinear ground plan and 
roof, and it also admits most light ; 
but the construction in wood is most 
generally understood, and is rather the 
cheapest. Very excellent and orna- 
mental greenhouses in iron are 
constructed by Messrs. Cottam and 
Hallen, and wooden houses may be 
made by any carpenter or joiner. 

Greenhouse Plants are those 
which will not bear the cold of a 



British winter in the open air, but 
that only require to be protected from 
frost. Many persons injure their 
greenhouse plants by giving them too 
much heat in winter, and too little 
air in summer, and are then sur- 
prised to find their plants die, or at 
least become sickly, and remain with- 
out flowering, notwithstanding all the 
care that has been bestowed upon 
them. No greenhouse ought to be 
kept at a greater heat at night than 
from 35° to 40° during winter; but 
the thermometer ought never to be 
suffered to fall below 35°. In the 
day, particularly if there be sunshine, 
it will of course rise higher ; but the 
fire should be lessened accordingly, as 
the thermometer, even in sunshine, 
should not rise in winter above 50°, 
or at most 52° or 53°. A higher 
temperature will induce premature 
vegetation ; and the plant will waste 
its strength in an abortive attempt to 
produce flowers and seeds at a season 
Avhen its nature requires it to be kept 
in a state of complete repose. The 
second fault, of giving too little air, 
is an equally serious one. Plants can 
no more live without fresh air than 
without water; and even in winter, 
the sashes of a greenhouse should be 
opened for an hour or two, say from 
twelve till two, in the middle of the 
day, whenever the sun shines, or the 
frost is not too intense. In the sum- 
mer, say from the middle of May to 
the middle of September, the plants 
should be set out in the open air ; the 
space on which they are to stand being 
covered two or three inches deep with 
small coal or slack, or ashes, to pre- 
vent the worms from creeping out of 
the ground into the holes at the 
bottom of the pots. In cold and damp 
seasons, the time for putting out the 
plants may be delayed till June ; and 
previous to their removal, the sashes 
of the greenhouse should be left open 
for a week or ten days, night and 



GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



133 



GROTTOES. 



day. Greenhouse plants should be 
watered regularly every evening in 
summer, and twice a-day if the 
"weather be very hot and dry. In 
winter, they should always be watered 
in a morning, when water is given ; 
but this need not be every day. 
Some plants, indeed, do not require 
watering oftener than once a week. 
The general rule is frequently to ex- 
amine the pots, and to give water 
whenever the earth appears to have 
become dry on the surface. Green- 
house plants should never be suffered 
to stand in saucers during winter, as 
stagnant water is particularly injuri- 
ous at that season ; and whenever the 
earth in a pot looks black and sodden 
with water, the plant should be turned 
out of the pot, and, after the black 
earth has been shaken from its roots, 
it should be repotted in fresh soil, 
well drained with broken crocks or 
cinders. In February or March, the 
plants should be looked over, and 
repotted where necessary; those that 
are too tall should be cut in, and 
cuttings made of their shoots. The 
young plants raised from cuttings 
made in autumn should be repotted 
in larger pots for flowering ; and 
where the plants do not require fresh 
potting, but have the surface of their 
mould become green and mossy, the 
moss should be taken off, and the 
ground slightly stirred with a flat 
stick, taking care, however, not to 
go so deep as to injure the roots. 
When trouble is not an object, all 
greenhouse plants are the better for 
repotting once every year, either in 
spring or autumn ; and when the ball 
is taken out of the pot for this pur- 
pose, it should be carefully examined, 
and all the decayed parts of the roots 
should be cut off. Sometimes, when 
the ball of earth is turned out, nearly 
half of it will fall off almost without 
touching ; and when this is the case, 
it will generally be found that there 



is a worm in the pot. Worms do a 
great deal of mischief to greenhouse 
plants in cutting through the roots, 
as their instinct teaches them to make 
their way through the earth straight 
across the pot and back again ; and 
they cannot do this without tearing 
the roots asunder every time they 
pass. Another point to be attended 
to in the management of a greenhouse 
is, keeping the plants as near as pos- 
sible to the glass ; as, unless this is 
done, the plants will become what 
gardeners call " drawn up," and unna- 
turally tall and slender, from the 
efforts they make to reach the light. 

Gre v i'llea . — Pro teacece. — Au s - 
tralian plants, with very curious 
flowers, which should be grown in a 
mixture of equal parts of sand, loam, 
and peat. They are increased by 
seeds, which ripen freely, or by cut- 
tings of the old wood, in sand, under 
a bell-glass. 

Griffi'nia. — .Amaryllidacece. — 
Handsome bulbous - rooted plants, 
which require the heat of a stove, and 
which should be grown in equal parts 
of white sand, loam, and peat. They 
should be allowed a season of com- 
plete rest in winter, and abundantly 
supplied with water when they begin 
to grow after repotting in spring. 
They should have plenty of air ; and 
they are increased by offsets, which 
should be taken off when they are 
repotted. They flower in autumn. 

Grindr v lia, W. ; (Do v nia, R. Br.) 
— Composites. — Perennial and annual 
plants, with large showy yellow flowers. 
The leaves of some of the species are 
covered with a white glutinous matter, 
that looks like milk. Nearly all the 
species are natives of Mexico, and 
they should all be grown in a mixture 
of loam and peat. The perennial 
species all require the protection of a 
frame during winter. 

Grottoes are covered seats, or small 
cells or caves, with the sides and roof 



GROUND CHERRY. 



134 



GUM CISTUS. 



constructed of rock-wovk, or of brick 
or stone, covered internally with spar 
or other curious stones, and sometimes 
ornamented with marine productions, 
such as corals, madrepores, or shells. 
A kind of grotto is also constructed of 
roots ornamented with moss. Per- 
haps the most generally effective 
grotto is one formed with blocks of 
stone, without ornaments either ex- 
ternally or internally, with the floor 
paved with pebbles, and with a large 
long stone, or a wooden bench painted 
to imitate stone, as a seat. The roof 
should be rendered waterproof by 
means of cement, and covered with 
ivy ; or a mass of earth may be heaped 
over it, and planted with periwinkle, 
ivy, or other low-growing evergreen 
shrubs, which may be trained to hang 
down over the mouth of the grotto. 
In some cases it answers to cover 
grottoes with turf, so that when seen 
from behind they appear like a knoll 
of earth, and in front like the entrance 
into a natural cave. As, grottoes are 
generally damp at most seasons of the 
year, they are more objects of orna- 
ment or curiosity than useful as seats 
or places of repose. One of the 
finest grottoes in England is that at 
Pain's Hill, formed of blocks of stone, 
with stalactite incrustations hanging 
from the roof, and a small stream 
running across the floor. Pope's grotto 
at Twickenham ; the grotto at Wey- 
bridge, and that at Wimbourne St. 
Giles, which last cost 10,000/., are 
also celebrated. A fountain or a 
gushing stream is a very appropri- 
ate ornament to a grotto ; though, 
where practicable, it is better in an 
adjoining cave, when a person sitting 
in the grotto can hear the murmur of 
the water, and see the light reflected 
on it at a distance, than in the grotto 
itself. 

Ground Chkrry. — Cerasus Cha- 
mcecerasus. 



Ground Ivy. — See Glechoma. 

Groundsel. — Senecio vulgaris. — 
I mention this troublesome weed, to 
enforce on amateur gardeners the 
necessity of pulling it up as soon as it 
appears, without suffering it to open 
its flowers, lest it should ripen any of 
its seed. The plant belongs to the 
Composita?, and the seeds are each fur- 
nished with a feathery wing or pap- 
pus, by means of which they are 
distributed in all directions. 

Groundsel-tree. — Bdccharis ha- 
limifdlius. A shrub with blueish 
green leaves, and rather pretty flowers, 
which are produced in autumn. It 
will grow in any common garden soil, 
but it is killed in severe winters if in 
an exposed situation. It may be pro- 
pagated by cuttings, which will strike 
if planted in the open border in 
autumn ; or by layers. 

Gu.uacum. — Zygophyllece. — Lig- 
num-vitse tree. Hothouse trees which 
are grown in loam and peat, and pro- 
pagated by cuttings. When trans- 
planted, great care should be taken 
not to injure the roots, which are 
small and very brittle. 

GuaVa. — See Psidium. 

Guelder Rose. — See Viburnum. 

Guernsey Lily.- — Nerine sarni- 
ensis, Ker. — See Neri v ne v . 

Gypsoca'llis, Sal. — Ericacece. — 
The moor, or Cornish heath, sepa- 
rated from the genus Erica by Salis- 
bury. For culture, see Erica. 

Gypso'phila. — Carophyllacece, or 
Silenacece. — Small-flowered creeping 
or trailing plants, annuals and peren- 
nials, which require a calcareous soil, 
and are well adapted for rockwork. 

Gypsum. — Sulphate of lime, com- 
monly called plaster of Paris. 

Gum Arabic Tree. — Acacia vera, 
or Ardbica. — See Acacia. 

Gum Cistus. — Cistus Cyprius, 
or ladaniferus. See Ci'stus. 



HjEMATO'XYLON. 



135 



HAMAME^LIS. 



H. 



Habena'ria. — Orchidacece. — 
Hardy North American perennials, 
with tuberous roots, and very curi- 
ously shaped flowers, which are gene- 
Tally yellow, but sometimes purple, 
and ■sometimes white. They grow 
best in a shady situation, and in a peat 
soil, kept rather moist than dry. 

Habra'nthus — A maryllidacecB. — 
Bulbous-rooted plants, (some of which 
will thrive in the open ground, though 
others require a greenhouse, and 
others a stove,) the culture of which 
exactly resembles that of the Amaryl- 
lis. The flowers are also similar, 
though very much smaller ; and, as 
in the Amaryllis, they are produced 
before the leaves. The Habranthus 
appears to exemplify the doctrine of 
bulbs being under-ground stems; for 
We are told by the Hon. and Rev. W. 
Herbert, ( Bot. Mag. t. 2597,) that 
the bulbs of this species, though round 
when imported, after having been 
potted a year become gradually elon- 
gated. Plants of this genus are gene- 
rally grown in a mixture of sandy 
loam and peat ; and for the details of 
their culture, see Amaryllis. 

Hema'nthus. — Amaryllidacew . 
— Bulbous plants, with large red 
flowers of very singular appearance 
and no particular beauty. They are 
very coarse-growing, and. take up a 
great deal of room. H. multifibrus 
is, however, an exception, as it is 
rather pretty. All the speeies require 
the heat of a greenhouse, and to be 
grown in sandy loam and peat ; they 
should also have a season of complete 
rest. For the rest of their culture, 
see Amaryllis. 

H^mato'xylon. — LeguminoscB. 
—The logwood. This tree, which 
grows about twenty feet high in its 
native country, is a stove-shrub in 
Britain. It has yellow flowers, and 



should be grown in a mixture of peat 
and loam. 

Ha v kea. — Proteacecs. — Australian 
shrubs, with flowers somewhat resem- 
bling those of the Grevillea, which are 
generally sweet-scented. The plants 
are generally kept in the greenhouse, 
should be grown in peat and sands, 
mixed with a little loam, and the pots 
should be well drained, and never suf- 
fered to become either too wet or too 
dry. See Australian Shrubs. 

Hal^esia.— Halesiacece.-- The Snow- 
drop-tree. American low trees, which 
generally form very handsome hardy 
shrubs in British pleasure-grounds. 
The reason of this is, that in North 
America the species all grow on the 
banks of rivers, in very poor rocky 
soil, whereas in England they are 
grown in dry places in rich soil; and 
too much nourishment to a tree which 
does not require it, has the same effect 
as too much animal food to a child — 
it makes it increase in width instead 
of height. The Snowdrop- tree flowers 
freely, and its stem droops gracefully 
over water. The flowers are white, 
and resemble those of the snowdrop ; 
and the seed is curiously winged. The 
species will grow in any soil or situa- 
tion, but they all prefer a poor soil 
near water, and a sandy situation. 
They are generally propagated by 
layers, though they all ripen seed 
abundantly in England. 

Halimode'nuron. — LeguminoscB. 
— The Salt-tree. H. argenteum, Dec. 
(Mobmia Halimodendron, Lin.) is 
a Siberian hardy shrub, which will 
grow in any soil or situation. When 
grafted standard high on a laburnum, 
it forms a very handsome drooping 
tree, with silvery leaves and purple 
flowers. 

Hamame^lts. — HamamelacecB. — 
The Witch Hazel. A hardy shrub, 



HARDY PLANTS. 



136 HARES AND RABBITS. 



a native of North America, which 
will grow freely in any soil that is not 
too rich, though it prefers a dry stony 
gravel. It has the peculiarity of flow- 
ering during winter, beginning to ex- 
pand its rich deep yellow flowers just 
as its leaves are falling off, and drop- 
ping its flowers when its branches 
begin to be reclothed with leaves in 
spring. 

Hand-glasses. — Portable frames or 
covers, formed of iron, zinc, or wood, 
and glazed. These glasses differ from 
bell-glasses in being longer, and com- 
posed of numerous small pieces of 
glass, which are fastened together by 
narrow strips of lead. Hand-glasses 
are generally square, but they may be 
made of an octagon, or any other 
shape that may be found most conve- 
nient ; and they are sometimes made 
with a pane to open to admit air, or 
with the upper part to take off. This 
is very convenient ; for as hand-glasses 
are chiefly used for protecting half- 
hardy plants during winter, it is neces- 
sary to give them air every fine day, 
and it is very troublesome to be 
obliged to lift the hand-glass off the 
plant, and to lay it on one side when- 
ever this is done. Bell-glasses, on 
the contrary, being principally for pre- 
venting the evaporation of moisture 
from the leaves of cuttings, do not re- 
quire any opening, as the plants seldom 
want any air till they have rooted. 

Hardenbe'rgta. — Leguminosce. — 
A new name given by Mr. Bentham 
to Kennedya monophylla, and five 
other species of that genus, which have 
small purplish flowers. 

Hardy plants are all those that 
will stand the open air in British gar- 
dens without the slightest protection ; 
half-hardy ones are those that may be 
planted in the open ground, but re- 
quire the protection of a mat or hand- 
glass ; and. tender, those that must be 
kept during winter in a hot-bed or 
plant-house heated by artificial means. 



Greenhouse and frame plants are 
those grown in pots, which require 
protection from frost during winter ; 
and stove plants are those grown in a 
hothouse all the year. 

Harebell. It is rather curious, 
that though few poets can write a 
sonnet without mentioning the hare- 
bell, and though it is sure to be 
introduced in every eloquent prose 
description of country scenery, bota- 
nists cannot exactly decide what plant 
is meant by the name — some suppos- 
ing it to be the beautiful little blue 
Campanula rotundifblia, and others, 
the wild hyacinth, Scilla non-scripta. 
The fact is, that both plants are now 
known by the name in different parts 
of Britain : but as the original word 
is said to have been " air-bell,'' it is 
most probable that it was the cam- 
panula that was first so designated, 
and that is alluded to by the poets ; 
as the tender blue of its flowers is so 
near the colour of the skies, as not to 
require auy great exertion of poetic 
fancy to call it a bell of air ; and as its 
slender stem has sufficient elasticity 
to rise again when lightly trodden on. 

Hares and Rabbits do a great deal 
of mischief to flower-gardens, as they 
are very fond of devouring many 
flowering plants — particularly pinks 
and carnations. They are also very 
fond of young plants of laburnum in 
the shrubberies, and of parsley in the 
kitchen-garden. The usual way of 
protecting pinks and carnations is, by 
an invisible wire fence, or by a net- 
work of black worsted, supported at 
intervals by blackened wires ; but the 
young plantations are generally pro- 
tected by common netting supported 
by notched stakes. Some persons sow 
parsley near their carnations, in the 
hope that the hares will eat that in 
preference ; but it often proves inju- 
rious, as the smell of the parsley at- 
tracts more hares than would otherwise 
discover the carnations, and thus the 



HAWKWEED. 



137 



heart' s-ease , 



parsley being soon devoured, the car- 
nationb are completely destroyed. 

HareVear. — See Bupleurum. 

Hare's-foot Fern, — Davallia 
canariensis. — A very curious exotic 
fern, the roots of which grow out of 
the pot, and closely resemble a hare's 
foot. It is a native of the Canaries, 
and should be grown in sand and 
peat. 

Hart's-tongue. — Scolopendrium 
officiyiarum. — One of the handsomest 
of the British ferns, from its broad 
tongue-shaped leaves. It grows in 
marshy places. It is called Scolopen- 
drium from its roots bearing some 
resemblance to the little luminous in- 
sect, Scolopendra electrica. 

Hatchet Vetch. — CoronUla secu- 
ridaca, now called Securigera Coro- 
nUla. A coarse-growing hardy annual, 
which takes up a great deal of room, 
from its large, rough, and widely- 
spreading leaves and stems ; while it 
can boast of little beauty in its single 
yellow pea-flowers. It will grow in 
any soil or situation. 

Haulm. — The dead stalks and 
leaves of peas, potatoes, &c. It is 
generally gathered up, and carried 
to the rubbish-heap to rot for manure, 
or burnt. It is also sometimes used 
for covering the ground over the roots 
of trees, &c. to keep out the frost . 

Hawkweed. — The plants properly 
called Hawkweed belong to the genus 
Hieracium ; they have generally yel- 
low flowers, and many of them are 
British weeds : the yellow Hawkweed 
of the gardens ( Tolpis barbatus), and 
the red Hawkweed (Borkhausia 
rubra), are, however, quite distinct. 
They are both hardy annuals, which 
only require sowing in the open bor- 
der ; and one of which (the yellow) 
will stand the winter in the open 
ground without protection, if sown in 
autumn. The red-flowered kind 
is very apt to become drawn up with 
long slender stems, and requires stak- 



ing and tying to make it look well. — 
See Crepis and Hiera'ci'um. 

Hawthorn. — Cratcegus Oxyacdn- 
tha. — See Crat^gus. 

Hazel. — Corylus Avellana. — The 
common Hazel is rather a fruit-tree 
than an ornamental shrub ; but it is 
sometimes grown in pleasure-grounds 
and geometric gardens, to form a shady 
walk. Walks of this kind were great 
favourites in the time of Elizabeth, 
and also in the Dutch gardens laid out 
in the time of William III. They 
are therefore suitable in the gardens of 
Elizabethan houses, or of any man- 
sions built in James I.'s style. They 
require no particular care but planting 
the young trees in a loamy soil, giving 
them, if possible, a little of that rich 
yellow soil generally called hazel- 
loam, from its peculiar adaptation to 
this plant, and clipping and training 
the branches so as to make the walk 
form one continued bower. 

Heart's-ease. — Most of the differ- 
ent kinds now in cultivation have 
sprung partly from the wild kind, Viola 
tricolor, hybridized by some other 
species ; and as all the kinds, whether 
hybrids or species, vary very much 
when raised from seed, and as these 
varieties and hybrids may be readily 
cross-bred with each other, the num- 
ber of kinds that may be raised 
defies all calculation. The heart's- 
ease must be grown in very rich soil, 
composed, if in pots or boxes, of four 
parts of rich loam, one of sand, and 
one of decayed leaves or rotten dung ; 
and if in the open ground, of rich loam 
highly manured. It is propagated by 
seeds, or division of the root. The 
seeds should be sown as soon as they 
are ripe in a bed, where the young 
plants should remain till they flower, 
when the best should be taken up and 
replanted in another bed, or in well- 
drained pots or boxes, for flowering. 
The plants will require constant 
watering during the hot weather; but 



he'dera. 



] 



3S 



HEDGEHOGS. 



they are very apt to damp off if the soil 
in "which they grow has not been 
well drained. The best varieties are 
propagated by cuttings taken off from 
the points of the shoots, in the spring, 
cutting them clean across immedi- 
ately below a joint. The cuttings 
should be struck in pure white sand, 
and covered with a bell-glass ; they 
should not be watered when put in, 
and they should be shaded for several 
days. Heart' s-eases are also propa- 
gated by layers, pegged down at a 
joint, but not slit, on account of their 
tendency to damp off. 

Heat is concentrated or produced 
in gardens in a variety of ways : by 
shelter from winds, which prevents 
the natural heat of the plants from 
being carried off by currents of air pass- 
ing over them ; by exposure to the sun, 
which concentrates its rays ; by cover- 
ing a surface of soil, or the roots and 
stems of plants with a non-conducting 
material, such as straw, litter, leaves, 
&c. which prevents its radiation ; by 
fermenting substances, such as stable- 
dung, litter, leaves, tan, &c, which 
produce heat by their decomposition ; 
and by the consumption of fuel, from 
which the heated air generated, is con- 
ducted in fiues, or by means of pipes 
of hot water or steam. Hot-beds are 
generally heated by a bed of horse- 
dung, or other fermenting material; 
and brick -built pits, or houses with 
glass roofs, are heated by furnaces and 
flues, or furnaces,boilers, and pipes of 
hot water or steam. Stable-dung and 
hot- water-pipes are the two best modes 
of heating pits and glass-roofed houses. 
Heat when produced is retained by 
coverings which admit the light, such 
as glass sashes, or in some cases frames 
covered with oil-paper, or with very 
thin canvas or gauze. 

Heath See Ertca. 

He'dera. — Araliacece. — The Ivy. 
This well-known plant is what bota- 
nists call a rooting climber ; that is to 



say, its stems climb up and twine 
themselves round trees, or any other 
suitable object which presents a suffi- 
ciently rough surface for their roots to 
take hold of; as, unless this is the case, 
the ivy,Avhenever it is rendered heavy 
by rain or snow, falls down. Whenever, 
therefore, ivy is wanted to cover smooth, 
newly-plastered walls, trellis-work 
should be fixed against them, to 
which the ivy should be nailed like 
any other plant. The ivy is remark- 
able for undergoing a complete change 
in its leaves when it flowers. The 
barren or creeping ivy, which trails 
along the ground, and roots into it, 
rarely flowers, and its leaf is deeply 
cut ; but the tree ivy, or flowering 
part, rears itself on high, so as to be 
fully exposed to the light and air, and 
the leaves become of an oval shape. 
H. canariensis, the giant, or Irish ivy, 
as it is sometimes called, though it is 
a native of the Canaries, is hardier 
and grows much faster than the 
common kind ; but the variegated 
kinds are more tender, and grow much 
slower. Ivy requires a deep and 
somewhat light soil, into which its 
roots can penetrate easily ; and when 
grown for any purpose in pots or 
boxes, it should be abundantly sup- 
plied with water. Ivy is useful in all 
cases where a naked space is to be 
covered with green in a short space of 
time ; and it is particularly valuable 
in town gardens, as it will bear the 
smoke and want of pure air in cities 
better than most other plants. It 
should, however, in all close and 
crowded situations, be abundantly sup- 
plied with water, and occasionally 
syringed over the leaves. The gold 
and silver varieties are very beautiful, 
especially the former, when grown 
against the chimney of a dwelling- 
house or hothouse ; but they require 
warmth to make them thrive. 

Hedgehogs. — Medicago minima. 
— An annual plant, with small yellow 



HELE NITJM. 



139 



HELICO^IA. 



pea-flowers, and curiously shaped cap- 
sules, which resemhle hedgehogs. The 
plant is weedy-looking, and not worth 
growing. 

Hedge Mustard. — See Er/ysimum. 

Hedge Nettle. — See Stachys. 

Hedges for flower-gardens should 
be composed of ornamental plants, 
such as Cydonia japonica, privet, lau- 
restinus, Rlbes sangmnum, roses, and 
double-blossomed furze, or ivy and 
other climbers, trained over iron trel- 
lis-work. The hedge to a flower- 
garden should never be stiff and formal, 
so as to look like a mere barrier ; but 
it should be so arranged, and should 
consist of plants which harmonize so 
well with the flowers in the garden, 
as to make them appear a part of it. 
For farther details on this subject see 
Fences. 

Hedy'chtum. — ScitaminecB. — 
Large reed-looking plants with splendid 
flowers, but which are only suitable 
for large places, as they require the 
heat of a stove, and a great deal of 
room, to make them flower well. They 
are natives of the East Indies. H> 
coronarium, which is one of the com- 
monest kinds, has large white flowers, 
which are exceedingly fragrant. .All 
the kinds require a light rich soil, and 
are increased by dividing at the roots. 

Hedy'sarum. — Leguminosce. — 
The French Honeysuckle. The 
species are mostly hardy biennials 
and perennials, which require only the 
usual treatment of their respective 
kinds. They will grow well in any 
rich light soil, and they are increased 
by division of their roots and by 
seeds. 

Hele nium. — Composites. — The 
species are generally tall-growing per- 
ennial plants, with large yellow 
flowers. They are increased by divid- 
ing the root. There are two or three 
annual species which are quite hardy, 
and only require sowing in the open 
border. The handsomest of these is 



H. quadridentum, which has briglU 
orange-coloured flowers, like a Rud- 
beckia. 

Helia'nthemum — Cistacece. — The 
Sun-rose. Low shrubs, generally used 
for planting on rockwork, and strongly 
resembling the Cistus or Rock-rose. 
As most of the species are rather ten- 
der, they require protection during 
winter. For this reason, they are either 
grown in pots, which are placed on the 
rockwork among the stones ; or taken 
up and repotted in winter, to be 
planted out again in spring. The soil 
should be a compost of loam and peat, 
They are generally increased by seeds, 
which they ripen in abundance. 

Helia'nthus. — Composite. — The 
Sunflower. The annual plant of this 
name, though a native of Peru, is of 
the hardiest of its kind, as it only 
requires sowing in the open border in 
any common garden soil. It is not, 
however, suitable for any situation, 
unless there be abundance of room, on 
account of the large size of its stalks 
and leaves. The perennial kinds are 
much smaller, and very ornamental : 
they are quite hardy, and will grow in 
any soil and situation. 

Helichry v sum. — Composite. — 
The Everlasting. The common yel- 
low everlasting, H. bracteatum, is a 
hardy annual that only requires sowing 
in the open border ; H. bicolor is a 
very slight variety, merely differing in 
having the outer petals tipped with 
copper colour ; but H. macranthum 
has white flowers tipped with pink, 
and is very handsome. This species i3 
a native of the Swan River colony, and 
it should be grown in a light peaty 
soil. It may either be sown in the 
open ground in April, to flower in 
autumn, or in a hot-bed in February, 
to plant out in May. 

Helico^nia. — Musacece. — Splendid 
hothouse plants, which require a rich 
sandy loam, and plenty Gf room and 
heat, to bring them to perfection. They 



HELIX. 



140 



hepa'tica. 



are propagated by division of the 
root. 

Helio'phila. — CrucifercB. — Beau- 
tiful little annual plants, natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope, generally with 
blue flowers, and very long slender 
stems. The seeds should be sown on 
a hot-bed in February, and the plants 
planted out in a warm open situation 
in May. 

Heliotrope. — See Heliotropium . 

Heliotro^pium. — Boraginece. — 
The Heliotrope is a favourite flower in 
most countries, from its fragrance, 
which, however, is overpowering, and 
very unpleasant to those not accus- 
tomed to strong perfumes. It should 
be grown in a light rich soil ; and 
though it requires protection during 
winter, it may be planted out in May, 
when it will flower splendidly in the 
open air, till destroyed by frost in 
autumn. It is propagated by cuttings, 
which strike easily. 

Helix. — The Snail. Snails are so 
destructive to gardens, and particularly 
to those of small size, that too much 
care cannot be taken to destroy them. 
The best time for effecting this is in 
winter or early spring, when the snails 
are in a quiescent state, and when 
they will be found in great numbers 
sticking to the walls, under ivy, &c, 
in box-edgings, or in the crevices of 
rock work, &c. In spring, the warmth 
and moisture induce them to leave 
their hiding-places, and they com- 
mence their work of destruction. At 
this season, they should be sought for 
in the day-time, in the same kind of 
places as those they select for their 
winter retreats, and if possible de- 
stroyed before they lay their eggs, 
which they do in April or May. The 
eggs, which are buried in the earth in 
some rather moist and shady place, 
and which are whitish, and quite 
round and transparent, should be 
6ought for and destroyed in May or 
June. By these means the ravages of 



snails may be in a great measure pre- 
vented ; and there will be no occasion 
to resort to watering the beds with 
lime or tobacco- water, remedies which, 
unless very judiciously practised, are 
in fact worse than the disease. Many 
persons place empty flower-pots in dif- 
ferent parts of a garden infested with 
snails at night ; and when this is done, 
a great number of snails will generally 
be found either in the pots or sticking 
to the outside in the morning. Cab- 
bage-leaves and slices of raw potatoes 
are also laid as traps for snails. 

Helle'borus. — RanunculacecB. — 
The Christmas Rose, H. riiger, is one 
of the handsomest plants belonging to 
this genus, on account of its flowering 
in winter, or very early spring, before 
almost every other flower. It is a 
hardy perennial, which will thrive in 
any common garden soil, and is in- 
creased by dividing the roots. 

Helmet- flower. — See Corya'n- 
thus. 

Helo x nias. — Melanthacece. — Per- 
ennial plants, natives of North Ame- 
rica, which produce spikes of very 
small pinkish or white flowers, and 
which are generally grown in peat soil, 
and in a moist situation. They are 
propagated by seeds or division of the 
root. 

Hemeroca'llis. — The Day Lily. — 
Handsome perennial plants, with yel- 
low or copper-coloured flowers. They 
are quite hardy, and only require a 
moist soil and a shady situation. They 
are propagated by dividing the roots. 
For the white and purplish flowered 
kinds, see Funkia. 

Hen and Chickens. — A kind of 
daisy. — See Bellis. 

Henbane. — See Hyoscvamus. 

Hepa'tica. — RanunculacecB. — 
Pretty little plants, which flower very 
early in spring. They should be grown 
in a light sandy soil, and a shady situa- 
tion; and, as they have a propensity 
to raise themselves out of the soil, they 



hermione\ 



141 



hierVcium. 



should be taken up every two or three 
years in autumn, and replauted. If 
this be not done, the earth should be 
raked or hoed up round them, so as to 
cover the roots, as if these are left 
exposed, they will wither, and the 
plants will probably die. The flowers 
of the Hepatica, unlike those of most 
other plants, possess their full colour 
from the first formation of the bud. 

Heracle x um. — UmbelUferce. — 
The Cow-parsnip. The gigantic Sibe- 
rian cow-parsnips, H. asperum, and 
H. giganteum, are probably two of 
the most magnificent herbaceous plants 
in the world. They are biennials, 
and are propagated by seeds, which 
ripen in abundance. The plants should 
be placed in a shady, moist situation, 
near a pond, if possible ; and where this 
is not practicable, they should have 
abundance of water. Thus treated, a 
plant has been known to attain the 
height of fourteen feet in a single sum- 
mer, with a fluted stem six or eight 
inches in diameter ; and a compound 
umbel of white flowers, measuring 
twelve feet in circumference. A plant 
of these dimensions, with leaves 
equally enormous, grew in the grounds 
at Bromley Hill in the summer of 
] 839 ; and another of nearly the same 
size grew in our small garden at Bays- 
water in the summer of 1840. 

Herbe'ktia. — Iridece. — A beauti- 
ful bulbous plant named in honour of 
the Reverend and Honourable Wil- 
liam Herbert, whose botanical labours 
are so well known. It is a native of 
Buenos Ayres, and it may be grown 
either in a pot, or in the open air, in 
a sandy loam, as it only requires pro- 
tection from severe frost or long- con- 
tinued rains. 

Herb-Robert. — A kind of wild 
geranium, very common by the road- 
sides throughout England and the 
north of France. 

Hrrmionis . — A name given by Mr. 
Haworth to one of the genera which 



he formed out of the genus Nar- 
cissus. 

Heron's Bill. — See Erodium. 

Hespera'ntha. — Iridece. — The 
Evening Flower. A genus of Cape 
bulbs, nearly allied to Ixia, and re- 
quiring the same treatment. 

He'speris. — Cruciferce. — The 
Garden Rocket. These flowers, 
though very common, are rarely well- 
grown, as they require a great deal of 
care to bring them to perfection. They 
are all perennials ; and as soon as they 
have done flowering, they should be 
taken up, and transplanted into fresh, 
and very rich soil, which must be of a 
light and friable nature. The best is, 
perhaps, that which has been used 
during the preceding summer for ce- 
lery trenches. Thus treated, the 
double white and double purple varie- 
ties of Hesperis rnatronalis will 
attain extraordinary size, and will 
flower splendidly. 

Hibbe'rtia. — DilleniacecB. — 
Trailing shrubs with large yellow 
flowers, natives of New Holland, 
which require a greenhouse in Eng- 
land. They should be grown in a 
mixture of sandy loam and peat, and 
they are propagated by cuttings. 

Hibi'scus Malvaceae. — Showy 

plants with large handsome flowers. 
The hothouse species, which are mostly 
from China, require a strong moist 
heat. Hibiscus syriacus, the Al- 
thaea frutex, is a hardy shrub, which 
will grow well in any common garden 
soil, and of which there are numerous 
splendid varieties, some of the best of 
which are those raised by Mr. Masters, 
of Canterbury. The Althcea frutex 
is propagated by seeds or layers. Se- 
veral of the different kinds of Hibis- 
cus are marsh plants, which grow 
best in pots suspended in water from the 
side of a pond. See Water-plants. 

Hiera cium. — Composites. — The 
common Hawkweed. British plants, 
with large yellow flowers, which will 



HOE. 



142 



HORNS. 



grow freely in any light rich soil. 
They are propagated by seed, or divi- 
sion of the roots. The name is said 
to be derived from the juice of these 
plants being formerly given to hawks, 
to clear and improve their sight ; and 
it is still used for bathing the eyes in 
ophthalmic disorders. 

Hip. — The fruit of the wild rose. 

Hippea'strum — A genus now in- 
cluded in Amaryllis. 

Hippocre v pis. — Leguminosce. — 
The Horse-shoe Vetch. The most 
common species in gardens is a green- 
house plant, with yellow flowers, a 
native of Minorca, which should be 
grown in a light sandy soil, and is 
propagated by seeds or cuttings. 

Hippo'mane. — Euphorbiacece. — 
The Manchineel tree. This is so poi- 
sonous a plant, that it is dangerous to 
prune it without gloves ; and it is said 
to occasion the death of those who 
sleep beneath its shade. It is a native 
of the West Indies, and requires to be 
grown iu a hothouse, in sandy loam, in 
England. It is propagated by cut- 
tings, which should be stuck in pure 
sand under a hand-glass. 

Hippo'ph-ea. — Elceagnacece. — Sea 
Buckthorn. Handsome hardy shrubs, 
natives of North America, which will 
grow in any common soil, and are in- 
creased by layers. 

Hippu v ris. — HaloragecB. — Mare's- 
tail. A British aquatic ; sometimes 
planted in ponds, &c. to hide their 
termination, and to give the water the 
appearance of a natural stream. 

Hoa kjea. — GeraniacecB. — A genus 
including all the tuberous-rooted ge- 
raniums, and named after Sir Richard 
Colt Hoare, who was very fond of cul- 
tivating these plants. See Gera- 
niums. 

Hoe. — There are many different 
kinds of hoes ; but they may be all 
reduced to two classes : the draw-hoes, 
which have broad blades, and are used 
for drawing up the earth to the roots 



of plants, being pulled to the operator ; 
and the thrust or Dutch hoes, which 
are principally used for loosening the 
ground and destroying the weeds, 
and which the operator pushes from 
him. 

Hoeing is an operation used for loos- 
ening the earth, and destroying weeds, 
where both digging and forking would 
be injurious to the roots of the plants 
forming the crop. It is also used to 
draw the earth up to those plants 
which send out numerous fibrous roots 
close to the surface of the ground. 
This last operation is called hoeing 
up, and it is generally practised with 
annual culinary crops. 

Ho'lcus. — A kind of grass. 

Holly. — See Ilex. 

Hollyhock. — See Althaea. 

Homeria. — Iridece. — A genus of 
Cape bulbs, formerly included in 
Morasa, and which may be grown in 
the open air, if protected by a hand- 
glass during severe frosts or heavy 
rains. The soil should be a sandy 
yellow loam ; and the plants are pro- 
pagated by offsets, which should be 
taken off and replanted in September 
or October. 

Honesty. — See Ldnaria. 

Honey Dew is a clammy substance 
often found on the leaves of trees and 
shrubs in hot weather ; and it is by 
some supposed to be produced by in- 
sects, and by others to be exuded by 
the tree. Whatever may be its cause, 
it does injury by stopping up the pores 
of the leaves ; and it should be washed 
off as soon as it is discovered. 

Honey-flower. — See Melianthus. 

Honeysuckle. — See Caprifolidm 
and Lonicera. 

Honeywort. — See Cerinthe. 

Hoop-petticoat. — A kind of Nar- 
cissus, N. bulbocodium. 

Hop. — See Humulus. 

Horn of Plenty See Fedia. 

Horn-poppy. — See Glaucium. 

Horns. — See Fedia. 



HOTBEDS. 



3 



HOTHOUSES. 



Hokse-shoe Vetch. — See Hippo- 

CRE V PIS. 

Hotbeds are formed of dung, or any 
other vegetable fermenting material ; 
but stable dung is in most general use, 
and is by far the best. When newly 
brought from the stables, it should be 
laid in a heap or ridge, five feet or six 
feet in width, and four feet or five feet 
in height ; and after lying three or four 
days, till a brisk fermentation has 
taken place, it should be turned over, 
taking care to place what was outside 
in the interior ; and after a few days 
more, when a second fermentation has 
taken place, and the straw has become 
so tender as to be easily torn asunder 
with a fork, the dung may be made up 
into a bed. This bed should be formed 
on a platform of soil, six or eight 
inches above the general surface, to 
preserve it from wet ; and it should 
be of such a length and breadth as suits 
the frame or bottomless box which is 
to be placed upon it. For raising 
tender annuals, or striking cuttings, 
the depth of the bed of dung need not 
be more than two feet, if it be early in 
the season, for example in February ; 
but if the bed be not prepared till 
April, it need not be made above one 
foot in thickness. When the bed is 
formed, the upper surface should be 
perfectly level, or slightly sloping to 
the south ; and it should be three or 
four inches wider than the frame on 
every side. After the frame is set, 
the surface of the bed may be covered 
with six inches of light soil, on 
which the seeds may be sown ; or, 
what will generally be found prefer- 
able, the seeds may be sown in pots, 
and plunged in this soil, care being 
taken that the heat of the bed is not 
too great, and that the seedlings when 
they come up do not suffer for want 
of air. There *are thermometers for 
trying the temperature of earth or 
dung by plunging them into it : and 
there are others for trying the tempe- 



rature of the air ; but a very little 
experience Avill render these unneces- 
sary. The soil should not be warmer 
than 60°, nor the air than 65° or 
70°, even during bright sunshine; but 
if during the night it falls as low as 
45° or 50°, no bad consequences will 
ensue. In severe weather, the sashes 
may be protected at night with mats, 
boards, canvas, or hurdles, covered 
with thatch or reeds. Hotbeds should 
always be placed in a sheltered situa- 
tion open to the south, and if possible 
on dry soil. When the heat of the 
dung begins to fall low, it may be 
renewed by exterior linings, which are 
narrow masses of fermenting dung 
placed round the main bed of duug : 
but for raising flower- seeds, this is 
seldom necessary. 

Hothouses differ from greenhouses 
in being kept at a higher temperature, 
so as to suit tropical plants ; and in 
having a fiat bed for the principal part 
of the plants to stand on, instead of a 
sloping stage of shelves. This bed is 
commonly surrounded by a narrow 
brick wall, two or three feet high, and 
filled with tan in which the plants are 
plunged ; but in some cases, instead of 
tan, or any other fermenting material, 
there is a cavity beneath the bed, in 
which fines or pipes of hot water are 
placed ; and the surface of the bed is 
either covered with sand, or some 
other material, calculated to retain an 
equality of moisture, in which the 
pots are plunged in the same manner 
as in the tan. Some cultivators do 
not use any materials in which to 
plunge the pots, but merely set them 
on the surface of the bed, trusting to 
the general heat of the air of the house, 
or the heat emitted through the bot- 
tom of the pit from the pipes or flues 
below, taking care to keep the surface 
of the bed on which the pots stand 
moist by pouring water over it at least 
once a day. The heat of hothouses 
for ordinary tropical plants should at 



HOUND S TONGUE. 



14 4 



HUMEA. 



no period of the day or year be lower 
than 65° ; but in summer, during 
bright sunshine, it may be as high as 
70°, 80°, or 90°. During winter it 
should never be lower than 60° in the 
day-time. In hothouses devoted to 
the growth of Orchideous plants, a 
higher temperature is requisite than 
for the ordinary plants of the tropics, 
and also a proportionately great de- 
gree of moisture ; and in order to at- 
tain the latter object, the floor of the 
house, or the hot-water pipe, should be 
frequently sprinkled with water. Such 
houses, from their intense heat, are 
commonly unpleasant to remain in for 
any length of time ; but this inconve- 
nience is avoided by producing a free 
circulation of the air, which, when in 
motion, even though the temperature 
is 70° or 80°, is by no means more in- 
convenient than that of a greenhouse 
with the air at 60°, and at rest. This 
motion is produced by having the heat- 
ing pipes in a flue or tunnel at the back 
of the house, or indeed in any part of 
it, and conducting large air-tubes from 
this flue or tunnel to the highest part 
of the house. From the opening of 
the tubes the heated air is emitted and 
diffused through the house; while un- 
derneath the floor there are horizontal 
tunnels communicating with the tun- 
nel containingthehot-waterpipes, with 
gratings over them at their farther 
extremities, by which gratings the air 
of the house is drawn in, to be re- 
heated by the hot- water pipes, and 
re-emitted by the upper extremities 
of the tubes which proceed from them. 
This mode of heating is the invention 
of Mr. Penn, of Lewisham, 

' HotWnta. — Primulacece. — The 
Feather Foil, or Water-violet. An 
aquatic British plant, which produces 
a pretty effect from its pink flowers, 
on the borders of ponds and ditches, 
where the soil is gravelly. 

Hound's Tongue. — See Cyno- 
glo'ssum. 



Housr Leek. — See Sempervivum. 

Housto^nia. — Gentianece.--~Pvetty 
little plants, natives of North Ame- 
rica, and suitable for rockwork. They 
should be grown in peat soil kept 
moist, and they are propagated by di- 
viding the roots. 

HoVea . — Leguminbscs. — Beauti- 
ful dwarf shrubs, natives of Australia, 
which require a greenhouse in Great 
Britain. They should be grown in a 
mixture of sandy loam and peat ; and 
they may be propagated by cuttings, 
which are rather difficult to strike ; 
and which should therefore be put 
under a bell-glass, in pure sand, and 
plunged into a hotbed. 

HVya. — Asclepiadacece. — The 
most common species, H. carnosa, 
has curious wax-like flowers, from 
which drops a sweet, honey-like juice. 
It is a hothouse climber, which re- 
quires a light rich soil, and is propa- 
gated by cuttings, which, however, 
will not strike without the help of 
bottom-heat. It is sometimes grown 
in greenhouses, if in a warm situa- 
tion, exposed to the sun. In this 
case, it should be trained close to the 
glass, and a mat, or some other cover- 
ing, thrown over the roof of the house 
in severe weather. 

Hudso'nia. — Cistinece. — North 
American heath-like shrubs, nearly 
allied to the Helianthemums, which 
require protection in England dur- 
ing winter. They should be grown 
in peat, and they are propagated by 
cuttings struck in sand. 

Hu v mea. — Composites. — Elegant 
biennial plants, which should be sown 
on a slight hotbed in spring ; then pot- 
ted off and kept in the open air during 
summer, and in the greenhouse dur- 
ing winter, to be finally planted in the 
open border iD May the second year. 
If the plants are re-potted three or 
four times during the course of the 
first summer, always into only a little 
larger pots, they will become so much 



hyaci'nthus. 



145 



hyaci'nthus. 



stronger before they are finally planted 
out, as amply to repay the additional 
trouble. 

Hamulus. — Urticacece. — The 
Hop. This plant, though generally 
grown for the purpose of making beer, 
is a very ornamental climber, and very 
suitable for covering bowers, &c. from 
the great rapidity of its growth, and 
the deep shade afforded by its large 
and numerous leaves. It should be 
grown in a rich and deep loamy soil, 
and it is increased by dividing its roots. 

Hyacinth. — See Hyacinthus. 

Hyaci'nthus.— Asphodelece. — The 
common garden Hyacinth, Hyacin- 
thus orientalis, is one of the most 
beautiful as well as the most fragrant 
of flowers ; and to a certain extent it 
is also one of the easiest of culture for 
the amateur gardener. The reason of 
this is, that the bulbs are generally to 
be purchased at an easy rate in the 
seed-shops, and the leaves and flowers 
being prepared in the bulb during the 
previous year, it is only necessary to 
place the bulbs in soil of any kind, or 
even on the surface of vessels of 
water, to produce a very fine flower. 
But this will not insure a bloom in 
the following year, because that de- 
pends not only on the plant being 
placed in circumstances where it will 
flower freely, but also where it will 
produce abundance of healthy leaves, 
and bring these to maturity. This is 
only to be done in beds properly pre- 
pared for the purpose, and under a 
proper system of management. We 
shall first speak of the most com- 
mon mode of growing Hyacinths, 
viz. — in miscellaneous borders; next, 
of the most perfect mode of growing 
them, — viz. in beds of properly pre- 
pared soil ; and, lastly, of growing 
them in glasses of water. 

Growing Hyacinths in miscella- 
neous borders, among other flowers. 
— Fix on the spots where they are to 
be planted, and loosen the earth to 



the depth of a foot with the spade, 
breaking it fine, and taking care that 
the roots of the adjoining plants are 
cut off, so as not to interfere with 
those of the Hyacinths. Remove 
three or four inches of the soil, and 
then deposit three or four bulbs, one 
in the centre and the others round it, 
so as to form a centre not more than 
six inches in diameter. Press the 
roots firmly into the soil, and cover 
them, three or four inches deep, with 
the soil, if it is a common garden loam, 
and five or six inches if it is a light 
sand. Plant only roots of one colour 
together, and put in a stick to mark 
the spot, that they may not be inter- 
fered with before they come up, when 
the bed is being dug over in spring. 
The season for planting Hyacinths is 
October or November ; but even De- 
cember is not too late in mild seasons, 
and in favourable situations. In ge- 
neral, no protection from frost is re- 
quisite ; for the Hyacinth is very 
hardy, and chiefly suffers from too 
much water, from snails, or from a 
disease called the canker. In heavy 
clayey soils, a small cone of soil may 
be raised over the roots to throw off 
the rain ; but when this is done, the 
cone ought to be levelled down in 
February, before the plants come up ; 
or a small gutter may be formed round 
each circle of bulbs, to drain off the 
wet. Where borders have a slop- 
ing surface, both these precautions are 
unnecessary ; and hence, in the garden 
of the Zoological Society in the Re- 
gent's Park, Hyacinths are planted in 
the sloping borders, though the soil is 
a strong clay, in autumn, and flower 
vigorously every spring. Hyacinths 
thus treated will produce very fine 
flowers the first spring ; and,even though 
not taken up, if they are not injured 
by canker, or slugs, or the roots of ad- 
joining plants during summer, they 
will flower tolerably well the second, 
and even sometimes the third year ; 



hyaci'nthus. 146 hyaci'nthus. 



after which their flowers will become 
every year weaker and weaker, till at 
last the plants are not worth the room 
they take up in the border. If it is 
wished to preserve the roots in a vi- 
gorous state, they ought to be taken 
up after flowering when the leaves 
have faded, and kept in a dry airy 
shed, with the neck of the bulb turned 
down ; and then planted in a properly 
prepared bed in autumn, where, after 
remaining two years, tbey will have 
recovered their vigour, and be fit to 
plant again in tlie border. Planting 
Hyacinths in miscellaneous borders is 
the most convenient mode for ama- 
teurs, and in general it produces the 
most agreeable effect in a private gar- 
den, for beds of Hyacinths have more 
the appearance of being cultivated for 
sale by a florist, though it must be 
confessed that stronger flowers are 
produced in this way, and the effect, 
considered by itself, is far more splen- 
did. 

Beds of Hyacinths. — The most 
convenient width is five feet ; and the 
length may be greater or less, at plea- 
sure. Five feet in width will admit 
of four rows for the four colours of 
red, white, blue, and yellow; which 
should be six inches apart between the 
rows, and the bulbs may be placed at 
the same distance from each other in 
the row. The arrangement of the 
colours may be according to fancy, but 
the common mode is never to have 
two of a colour together. To prepare 
the bed, dig out the soil to the depth 
of three feet , and fill it up to one foot 
above the surface with very sandy 
loam mixed with leaf mould, cow- 
dung, or hotbed dung, thoroughly rot- 
ten. This may be done in Septem- 
ber ; and in October six inches of the 
soil may be removed, and the bulbs 
planted ; after which the soil must be 
replaced. To protect the bulbs from 
too much wet during the winter, the 
surface of the bed should be gently 



sloped to each side ; and during rainy 
weather it may be covered with reeda 
or thatch, in such a manner as to 
throw off the rain. Thus treated, 
the plants will bloom with great vi- 
gour ; and to have the colours in the 
greater perfection, the bed ought to 
be covered in the flowering season 
with a tent or awning. But for ama- 
teurs the most convenient mode is, 
to form the bed of such a size as to 
be contained either in a common cu- 
cumber-frame with glass sashes, which 
may be put on during heavy rains, 
and also during sunshine ; tilting them 
at both ends to admit a free circula- 
tion of air, and covering the glass with 
mats to exclude the sun. Care must 
be taken to remove the glasses entirely 
during cloudy weather, in order not to 
draw up the plants ; and, for the same 
reason, to take them off every night 
when the weather is dry. A common 
cucumber-frame, of twelve feet long 
and four feet wide, will contain a very 
handsome collection of Hyacinths ; 
which may thus be grown to the 
highest degree of perfection, and pro- 
tected from every exterior injury. As 
soon as the plants have done flower- 
ing, the frame and glasses may be re- 
moved ; and when the leaves have 
become yellowish, the bulbs may be 
taken up, and each kind kept by itself, 
and placed in an airy situation in the 
shade till they are quite dry. After 
this they should be cleansed from any 
soil that may stick to them, and the 
fibrous roots, which will have withered 
up, should be rubbed off. The bulbs 
should then be laid on a shelf of lat- 
tice-work with the neck of the bulb 
downwards, or placed in shallow 
wicket baskets, and hung up in an airy 
shed or room till wanted for use. If 
decay or canker make their appear- 
ance, the parts injured, if small, 
should becut out and thebulb laid aside 
to dry ; but if the parts injured extend 
far, the bulb should be thrown away 



HYACI'NTHUS. 



147 



HYACI'NTHUS. 



at once ; as the disease is infectious, 
and will communicate itself to healthy 
hulbs lying near the diseased ones. 
Hyacinth bulbs are generally fit for 
putting in baskets in the course of the 
month of July, and the bed being 
partially renewed with fresh soil, they 
may be planted again in September or 
October. A third part of the soil 
being taken away, and replaced by 
fresh soil every year, the bed may 
continue to be used for an unlimited 
period. Young bulbs or offsets will 
be produced more or less every season, 
and these may be taken off when the 
bulbs are raised, laid by themselves, 
and planted in a nursery-bed for a 
year ; when they will have grown 
sufficiently large to be fit for planting 
in the flowering bed. Single-flowered 
Hyacinths, whether in mixed borders 
or in beds, will generally have a ten- 
dency to produce seeds ; but as these 
weaken the bulbs, the flower-stalks 
should be cut off as soon as the flowers 
have faded, or the capsules ought to be 
stripped off the flower-stalk with the 
hand as soon as they appear ; unless, 
indeed, it is wished to raise new sorts, 
— in which case the seeds may be 
allowed to ripen, and they should be 
sown under glass as soon as they are 
ripe. They will come up the follow- 
ing spring, and, if carefully transplant- 
ed and properly treated, will produce 
flowers in from three to five years. 

Flowering Hyacinths in glasses 
of water is a very simple operation, 
and roay be effected by filling the glass 
with water up to the neck ; and then 
placing the bulb in the cup-shaped 
part of the glass intended to re- 
ceive it, and renewing the water from 
time to time when it begins to get 
muddy. When the water is changed 
the bulb should not be taken out, un- 
less the roots are short and few, but 
the hand should be put over the top 
of the glass so as to retain the bulb in 
its place, and the water carefully and 



slowly poured off. This is done to 
prevent any injury being done to the 
long roots, as they are very brittle and 
easily broken, and the plant is seri- 
ously injured by their being in an im- 
perfect state. When one of the long 
roots is broken, it should be cut off 
with a sharp knife close to the bulb. 

To grow Hyacinths in water- 
glasses to the greatest perfection, 
it is advisable first to plant the 
bulbs in soil, and when they have 
made roots of an inch or more in 
length, to take them up, wash the 
roots, and place the bulb in the glass. 
The use of previously planting the 
bulb in the soil is to cause it to throw 
out roots more freely ; the stimulus 
of the moist earth being found more 
effective for this purpose than mois- 
ture alone. When the bulbs are put 
into the water, without previously 
planting them in the ground, the 
glasses may be kept for a few days 
in the dark, till the roots begin to 
grow ", but as soon as this is the case, 
the glasses should be placed in a warm 
room near the light, when the plants 
will grow rapidly. Should the flower- 
stems appear weak, they may be sup- 
ported by a slender prop fixed in a 
disk of wood, on which the glass may 
be placed as its base; or by any other 
elegant or convenient means. In 
choosing Hyacinths for "water- glasses, 
the red and blue flowers are prefer- 
able to those which are white or yel- 
low; the latter two having a fragrance 
too powerful for rooms, and, besides, 
they generally flower weaker in glasses 
than the others. In the windows of 
seed-shops we sometimes see Hya- 
cinths or Narcissi with their flowers 
inverted in a glass of water, appearing 
as if they had grown in that position. 
They are, however, grown in the usual 
manner, with the glass inverted over 
the pot in which the flower is grown, 
and only turned and the glass filled 
up with water after the flower has 
l 2 



hyaci'nthus. 



148 



hydra'ngea. 



expanded, the flower-pot being re- 
moved, and the bulb wrapped in wet 
moss. Sometimes another flower ap- 
pears growing from the other end of 
the glass; but this is grown in another 
flower-pot in the usual way, and only 
removed to the glass when it is wanted 
to produce the proper effect. Decep- 
tions of this kind cannot be considered 
in good taste, particularly at the pre- 
sent day, when people are so much 
better educated than formerly. Hya- 
cinths flowered in water are seldom 
good for much afterwards; neverthe- 
less, if the leaves are carefully pre- 
served, and the plants, immediately 
that they have done flowering, are 
planted in a nursery-bed, they will 
recover their vigour in two or three 
years. It is also said that sinking the 
bulb entirely in water after it has done 
flowering invigorates it, and will enable 
it to flower the second year ; but I have 
never had an opportunity of proving 
this. A very small portion of com- 
mon salt added to the water has been 
found to accelerate the growth of 
Hyacinths, and give a deeper green to 
their leaves ; and keeping the water 
warm, say at a temperature of 60°, 
also accelerates their growth. It 
must, however, be remembered, that 
too much salt will kill the plants. 

Growing Hyacinths in pots of 
soil requires no particular care. To 
insure a vigorous growth, the pots 
ought to be deeper than usual, and 
they need not be much wider at the 
top than at the bottom. The soil 
ought to be a sandy loam, mixed with 
rotten leaves or dung so thoroughly 
decayed as to have become a kind of 
mould, and the pots ought to be well 
drained. When first planted, which 
ought to be in September, or any 
period between that month and Fe- 
bruary, the bulbs may be kept in a 
cool place, and covered with soil or 
rotten tan, till the buds have begun 
to move; when the pots may be taken 



to the greenhouse or the windows of 
a warm room, and if the soil be wa- 
tered with warm water they will grow 
so much the faster. When the plants 
have done flowering, they may be 
turned out of the pots with the balls 
of earth unbroken, into the common 
soil ; and the bulbs may be taken up 
and dried when the leaves have de- 
cayed. Bulbs which have flowered in 
pots seldom flower vigorously the se- 
cond year ; and unless the amateur 
has abundance of room for a nursing- 
bed, and leisure to manage it, it is 
better to throw away at once bulbs 
which have been flowered either in 
pots or in water-glasses. 

Hydra'ngea. — Saxifragece. - 
There are several kinds of Hydrangea, 
most of which are American shrubs, 
which are quite hardy in British gar- 
dens. The kind best known, however, 
and which is called the Hydrangea, 
par excellence, is a Chinese shrub, 
which is only half-hardy in England. 
Botanists call it Hydrangea Hor- 
tensia, the specific name being given 
in honour of a French lady, whose 
Christian name was Hortense ; and 
though it is now so common, it has 
not been introduced much more than 
fifty years ; the first plant of it grown 
in Britain having been imported from 
China by Sir Joseph Banks, in 1789 
or 17£)0, about the same time as the 
tree Peony. The Hydrangea, though 
nearly hardy, is generally considered 
as a greenhouse or window plant; and 
it is admirably adapted for the latter 
situation, as it is scarcely possible to 
give it too much water, though water 
may be withheld from it for several 
days without killing it — the plant re- 
minding its possessor of its wants by 
its conspicuously drooping leaves, and 
reviving rapidly when water is given. 
It should be grown in a rich soil, and 
its branches should be cut in every 
year when it has done flowering ; as, 
otherwise- the branches are apt to be- 



hydrope'ltis. 



149 



hype'rtcum. 



come unsightly from losing their leaves 
near the base. 

Blue Hydrangeas are very much 
admired, partly, perhaps, from the 
difficulty of obtaining them, for no 
plants can be more capricious. Some- 
times they come without any trouble at 
all; sometimes applying any one of the 
numerous recipes recommended will 
change the colour, either directly or 
gradually ; and sometimes no care, 
and no recipe has the slightest effect, 
and the flowers remain pink in spite of 
all that can be done to turn them blue. 
Water impregnated with alum, steel- 
filings, sheep's dung, wood-ashes, peat- 
ashes, nitre, carbonate of soda, or 
common salt, are all recommended, 
and all succeed — sometimes. The 
flowers are sometimes turned blue by 
removing the plants to a loamy soil, 
and sometimes by planting them in 
peat. It is generally allowed that 
the fine yellow loam found in some 
parts of Hampstead and Stanmore 
Heaths, and the peat of Wimbledon 
Common, are sure to produce the de- 
sired effect ; as is also the peat of the 
bogs near Edinburgh, and that of the 
neighbourhood of Berlin and St. Pe- 
ter sburgh ; but these soils are not al- 
ways to be procured when wanted. 
Water in which tan has been steeped 
is also very often successful; though, 
like the other recipes, it cannot al- 
ways be depended on. 

Hydro'charis. — Hydrocharideas. 
Frogbit. A pretty little British wa- 
ter-plant, with white flowers. 

Hydrastis. — Ranunculacea. — 
Yellow root. A tuberous rooted 
North American plant, which requires 
a rich moist soil, and is increased by 
dividing the root. 

Hydrope'ltis. — Hydropeltidece. 
— A North American water-plant, 
with large round pinkish leaves, and 
small purplish flowers. Like the 



Water Lily, this plant closes its petals 
at night, and sinks below the surface 
of the water, to rise and open again 
the next morning. 

Hydrophy'llum. — Hydrophyl- 
leas. — Water Leaf. So called because 
the leaves curl up so as to hold water. 
The plant is a hardy perennial, which 
will grow in any light soil, and which 
is easily increased by suckers from 
the roots. 

Hydropi / per. — Water Pepper. See 
Polygonum. 

Hyoscy^amus. — Solanacecs. — 
Henbane. The annual kinds are 
quite hardy and will grow anywhere, 
but they prefer a soil that is rich and 
light. The English kinds are gene- 
rally found on old dunghills, or heap6 
of mould from decayed vegetables. 
The perennials also prefer a light and 
rich, and yet deep soil ; and they are 
increased by dividing the roots. 

Hype'ricum — Hypericacece. — St. 
John's Wort. The pretty yellow- 
flowered shrubs and herbaceous per- 
ennials known by this name at the 
present day, were formerly in high 
repute for driving away evil spirits; 
and on this account were generally 
planted near dwelling-houses. They 
were also highly valued for their me- 
dicinal properties, being believed to 
have a powerful effect in stopping 
blood and healing wounds. The most 
common kind, the Tutsan, or Park 
Leaves, is now made into another 
genus, under the name of Andro- 
ssenum ; but the botanical distinction 
is very trifling. All the kinds will 
thrive under the drip of trees ; and 
they will grow in any soil and situa- 
tion, though they prefer moisture and 
the shade. They are found in almost 
all the temperate climates of the 
world ; and they are propagated by 
seeds, and by dividing the roots. 



ICHNEUMON FLY. 



150 



ILEX. 



Iberis. — Cruciferce. — Candytuft. 
Most of the kinds of Candytuft are 
well-known annuals, which received 
their name from /. umbellata, the 
first species grown as a garden flower, 
having been brought from Candia. 
The seeds should be sown in a rich 
light soil in autumn, -where they are 
to remain, and kept rather dry during 
•winter. They should be repeatedly 
thinned out, and in spring they should 
be watered with liquid manure, taking 
care not to let the liquor touch the 
plants. "When the plants are about 
to flower, those of the common kind 
should be six or eight inches apart 
every way at least ; and those of /. 
coronaria, the Rocket Candytuft, 
should be from one to two feet apart ; 
and thus treated, the flowers will be 
very large and fine. When it is not 
thought advisable to take so much 
trouble, the seeds may be sown very 
thin, either in autumn or early in 
spring ; either alone, or mixed with 
mignonette ; and in either case they 
will look very well in the flower 
borders. The perennial and suffruti- 
cose kinds are well adapted for rock- 
work ; and they are easily propagated 
by cuttings, or dividing the root. 

Iceland Moss. — Cetraria Isldn- 
dica. 

Ice Plant. See Mesembbyanthe- 
mum. 

Ichneumon Fly. — A very elegant 
slender creature, somewhat resem- 
bling a gnat, which generally deposits 
its eggs in the living body of a cater- 
pillar. Great numbers of caterpillars 
are thus destroyed every year ; and as 
the grub of the Ichneumon does not 
feed upon vegetable matter of any 
kind, it may thus be regarded as a 
friend to gardeners, and it should be 
spared accordingly. Sometimes a 
single fly will lay from thirty to forty 



I. 

eggs. Whenever a number of small 
white grubs are observed to appear on 
the body of a caterpillar, or a number 
of little masses of what looks like fine 
yellow silk, the caterpillar should not 
be crushed ; as it is serving as a nur- 
sery for Ichneumons, by which dozens 
of other caterpillars will be destroyed. 

Ilex This name is frequently ap- 
plied in common conversation to the 
Quercus Ilea;, or evergreen oak ; but 
it is properly the botanic name of the 
Holly. 

Ilex. — Aquifoliacea. — A genus 
of evergreen shrubs or low trees, of 
which the most interesting is Ilex 
Aquifblium, or the common Holly, 
a native of Britain, with fine dark 
green prickly leaves, and scarlet or 
coral-coloured berries. There are a 
great many varieties of this shrub, 
some of which have leaves variegated 
with cream colour, white, different 
shades of yellow, and slight tinges of 
red ; and others have white, yellow, 
and even black fruit. They are all 
beautiful, and, being evergreen and 
quite hardy, are reckoned among the 
most ornamental of British shrubs. 
They grow slowly, but, as they are 
always erect and compact, they are 
very valuable for small gardens, where 
the plants require to be kept within 
bounds. The species are propagated 
by seeds, which are kept a winter in 
the rot-heap (see Rot Heap) before 
they are sown ; and the varieties are 
propagated by budding or grafting on 
the species, and sometimesbycuttings. 
As, however, the operation of propa- 
gation, whether by seeds or otherwise, 
is slow, and, in the case of budding 
and grafting, somewhat difficult, ama- 
teurs will always find it preferable to 
purchase plants from the nurserymen. 
Hollies will grow in any soil in an 
airy situation, but they do not thrive 



IMPLEMENTS. 



151 



INARCHING. 



in coal smoke. They prefer a loamy 
soil, but they will grow in sand, and 
also in strong clay ; and, though not so 
well, on chalk or limestone. They make 
beautiful and permanent hedges, ele- 
gant single trees and picturesque groups; 
and, from the closeness of their foliage, 
they are very useful in shutting out 
any unpleasant objects. A Holly 
hedge is also well adapted for a street 
or road-side garden; as, while it serves 
as a screen, it has a cheerful look; 
both in summer and winter. 

Illicium. — Winter acecB. — Half- 
hardy shrubs, with very dark strongly- 
scented flowers, which smell like ani- 
seed ; and hence the popular name 
applied to the genus, of Aniseed 
Tree. Most of the kinds come from 
China, and are tender in British gar- 
dens ; but /. floridum, an American 
species, is very nearly hardy, only re- 
quiring protection in severe winters. 
They should all be grown in peat ; 
and they are generally increased by 
layers, though cuttings will strike in 
heat, under a bell-glass. 

Impatiens. — BahaminecB. — Noli 
me tangere. There are several an- 
nual hardy species of this genus, most 
of which are natives of Europe and 
North America, and have yellowish 
flowers ; but some have lately been 
introduced with beautiful pink flowers 
from India. They are all distinguished 
by the seed-vessel springing open when 
it is touched, and discharging the seeds. 
All the kinds require a light soil, and 
abundance of water ; and they are all 
large and widely-spreading plants. 

Implements. — Those requisite for 
Floriculture are chiefly the spade ; a 
three- pronged fork, with a long han- 
dle, and one with a short handle ; 
the rake; the draw hoe, and thrust 
hoe ; the spud ; the trowel ; the dib- 
ber; the pruning-knife, the budding- 
knife ; the pruning-shears ; the flower- 
gatherer ; the short-grass scythe ; and 
the roller. Besides these, there are 



various utensils, such as flower-pots of 
different sizes : watering-pots, with 
tubes and roses of different kinds and 
sizes ; a syringe ; a wire-sieve, with 
the meshes about half an inch square ; 
hand-glasses and bell-glasses. ; baskets, 
wheelbarrows for plants, and mould ; 
handbarrows for carrying large pots 
or boxes ; fumigating bellows ; a tin 
box for dusting plants with lime or 
powdered tobacco-leaves ; a small 
painter's brush, for applying sulphur or 
soap-suds ; and a sponge for cleaning 
the leaves of plants. These are the 
ordinary implements and utensils ; but 
on a large scale there are some others, 
which may be added, such as the 
transplanter, averuncator, the garden- 
engine, the bill, the hedge-shears ; the 
last two of which are, however, sel- 
dom used by ladies. 

Inarching. — A species of graft- 
ing, in which the scion is only 
partially separated from the parent 
plant ; in such a manner, that while 
it is uniting with the stock it de- 
rives a portion of its nourishment from 
the plant to be propagated. For this 
purpose the stock is either planted near 
the parent, or if in a pot it is placed 
near it, in such a manner that a branch 
from the scion can be readily joined 
to the stock. The stock is sometimes 
cut over immediately above its point 
of junction with the branch joined to 
it ; but more frequently the stock is 
left at length. The stock may either 
be united to the scion by notching the 
one into the other, as in notch-graft- 
ing; or simply by paring a portion of 
the bark and wood from both scion and 
stock, and splicing them together, as 
in side -grafting. In either case the 
scion is made fast to the stock by 
tying them together with strands of 
matting, and the graft so formed is 
covered with moss tied on, or with 
grafting-clay, or grafting-wax. After 
a certain period, the scion and stock 
unite, when the former is separated 



INGA, 



152 



INOCULATING. 



from the parent, and the stock is cut 
over a little above the graft. After some 
further time, -when the scion begins 
to grow vigorously, the stock is cut 
close over above the point of union, 
and the section left becomes in time 
covered with bark. Inarching is only 
adopted in the case of woody plants 
that grow with difficulty when grafted 
in the usual manner. The conditions 
of growth are the same as in inde- 
pendent grafting — viz. that the inner 
or soft wood of the stock must be 
placed exactly on that of the scion, to 
ensure their union. Inarching is ge- 
nerally applied to Camellias ; and any 
person who has visited Messrs. Lod- 
diges', at Hackney, Messrs. Chand- 
ler's, in the Vauxhall-road, or, in fact, 
any of the great Camellia growers, in 
April or May, must have seen some 
of the large old plants of the superior 
kinds, surrounded by a number of 
pots of the common single red, sup- 
ported at different heights, for the 
convenience of reaching the different 
branches to which they have been 
united by inarching. The mode of 
grafting shown in fig. 21, in p. 129, 
has all the advantage of inarching, the 
scion being nourished by the water 
in the same way as it would be by 
its roots, in the case of inarching. 

Indian Corn. — See Zea. 

Inpian Cress. — See TropjE v olum. 

Indian Fig. — See Opuntia. 

Indl^n Shot. — See Canna. 

Indigo is formed from the leaves of 
an Indian plant, called Indigofera 
tinctdria, belonging to the order Le- 
guminosce, and it requires a stove in 
England. The false Indigo, Amor- 
pha, also belongs to Leyuminosce ; 
and some of the species are hardy 
shrubs or low trees. See Amo'rpha. 

Inga Leguminosce. — Beautiful 

plants, nearly allied to the genus Mi- 
mosa, with silky, tassel-like flowers. 
All the species are stove-shrubs, and 
should be grown in a mixture of loam 



and peat. They are propagated by 
cuttings, taken off at a joint, and struck 
in pure sand, under a bell-glass, and 
plunged in a hotbed or in tan, to af- 
ford them bottom-heat. 

Inoculating This term, when 

applied to plants, is generally used as 
equivalent to that of Budding, which 
see in p. 33 ; but it is also applied to 
a mode of creating a grassy surface, 
either for a lawn or a pasture-field, by 
distributing fragments of turf taken 
from an established pasture over a 
newly-formed surface. Supposing the 
surface which it is intended to form 
into a lawn, to be levelled, dug, and 
smoothed, rolls of turf are procured 
from any suitable meadow or pasture, 
and cut into pieces, and laid down on 
the prepared surface at a foot or a foot 
and a half apart ; and the intervening 
spaces are sown with grass-seeds, and 
the whole firmly rolled. The pieces 
of turf give an immediate character of 
grassy surface, and they are united in 
the course of a season by the growth 
of the intervening grass-seeds. It 
may be asked, why not use the grass- 
seeds alone, and save the expense of 
the turf? the only answer to which is, 
that the pieces of turf being green from 
the commencement, anticipate in idea 
the future effect that will be produced, 
and make sure of a grassy surface in 
case the grass-seeds should fail. The 
practice originated in Norfolk, and it 
is sometimes adopted in agriculture as 
well as in gardening. 

Inoculating lawns with mushroom 
spawn is a practice sometimes adopted 
in gardens in the country, and affords 
at once a source of amusement in col- 
lecting the mushrooms, and of profit 
from their usefulness in the kitchen. 
It may be adopted in the case of any 
lawn, whether old or newly-formed. 
A few spawn bricks, as they are called, 
are procured from any person that 
grows mushrooms, or from the seed- 
shops ; and these, being first broken 



INSTRUMENTS. 



153 



inu'la. 



into fragments, are inserted in the 
soil, either at a foot or a yard apart, 
according as it is wished to have the 
ground wholly or partially covered 
with mushrooms. The fragments are 
inserted ahout two inches in depth, 
and the turf is firmly pressed over 
them with the foot. The operation 
occasions no derangement of the turf, 
and it may be performed with the cor- 
ner of a spade or a trowel. The time 
is April or May, and the mushrooms 
will make their appearance in the 
September or October following. The 
turf is not injured, and much amuse- 
ment is sometimes produced by the 
unexpected appearance of the mush- 
rooms. 

Insects are extremely destructive 
to flower-gardens, particularly those 
belonging to the section Lepidop. 
tera, which includes the butterflies 
and moths. Some of the Coleoptera, 
or beetles, are also very injurious, 
while in the grub state. It would 
take too much space in a work like 
the present, to give even the names of 
all the insects which injure flowers ; 
but some of the most destructive are 
mentioned by their popular names 
as they occur in the alphabetical series, 
and a few words said on each. Entomo- 
logy should, however, be studied by 
every one who loves flowers ; as it is 
of great service to the florist to know 
these destructive creatures under all 
their changes. It is true that insects 
are, in most cases, only injurious in 
the caterpillar state ; but often, by de- 
stroying a chrysalis, — or a moth, or 
butterfly, before it has had time to 
lay its eggs, the mischief which would 
have been done by the brood which 
would be raised from them may be 
prevented. 

Instruments differ from imple- 
ments in having steel edges or blades, 
and in cutting wood instead of sepa- 
rating soil. Those required for the 
flower-garden are knives of different 



kinds, cutting-shears, flower-gatherers, 
the scythe for mowing, and the bill, 
or the bill-hook, for cutting hedges. 
Knives are of many different kinds, 
and formerly all garden-knives were 
hooked at the extremity of the blade. 
It is now found, however, that this 
hooked form has a tendency to tear 
rather than to cut, and the best mo- 
dern knives of every description have 
a straight cutting edge, and a sharp 
point,ratherthan a rounded one. Those 
which are used for pruning or cutting, 
generally have no particular form of 
handle; but those which are used for 
budding or grafting have an ivory 
handle, which terminates in a flat 
chisel-like form, for raising up the 
bark, when inserting buds. In gene- 
ral, it may be sufficient to observe, 
that a pruning-knife should have the 
extreme end of the handle thicker 
than the end next the blade, in order 
that it may never slip through the 
hands of the operator ; and that it 
should be somewhat curved to give a 
greater purchase. A few glances at 
a cutler's, or in the seed-shops, would 
give a better idea of the sort of knives 
which an amateur ought to procure, 
than a page of directions ; but pur- 
chasers should be cautioned against all 
complex forms, in which a number of 
blades, including saws and chisels, and 
sometimes also screw-drivers, gimblets, 
and hammers are included in the same 
handle. An excellent substitute for 
a knife for the lady gardener is found 
in the pruning-shears with a sliding 
motion, by which, what is called a 
draw-cut is produced, instead of what 
is called a crushing-cut, which bruises 
the bark, and renders the wound dif- 
ficult to heal over. (See Pruning 
Shears.) 

Inu v la — Composites. — Elecam- 
pane. Some of the foreign species 
of this genus are very showy plants, 
all with orange-yellow flowers, and 
large coarse stalks and leaves. They 



ipomo'psis. 



154 



IRIS. 



are only suitable for large gardens or 
shrubberies, where they can have 
pleuty of room. They will grow in 
any common garden soil, and they are 
increased by seeds, or dividing the 
root. 

Ipecacuanha. — This drug is made 
from the root of Viola or Ionidium 
Ipecacuanha, a stove-plant in Eng- 
land, with pretty Avhite flowers, and 
which should be grown in a mixture 
of loam and peat. It is propagated bv 
cuttings, which strike root readily in 
sand, under a bell-glass. 

Ipomo3 v a. — Convolvulacece.-'Bea.u- 
tiful climbing plants, annuals and 
perennials, many of which require a 
stove : but most of Avhich, if raised 
on a hotbed in February, may be 
planted out in May to flower in the 
open air. All the species should 
be grown in a light soil, well ma- 
nured with decayed leaves, or the 
very rotten part of an old hotbed. 
The most beautiful kinds are I. ru- 
bro-ccerulea, which, if planted out in 
a warm border, will flower beauti- 
fully in the open air ; and /. Learii, 
which, though it has as yet only 
flowered in a stove, will probably suc- 
ceed with the same treatment. Both 
these kinds produce an astonishing 
number of flowers, though each flower 
lasts only one day, and sometimes if 
too much exposed to the sun, only a 
few hours ; and both grow with great 
rapidity and vigour. I. Learii is, 
however, more shrubby than /. ru- 
bro-ccerulea, and is generally propa- 
gated by cuttings, which strike rapidly 
by the aid of a little bottom-heat. 

Ipomo'psis. — Polemonictcece. — 
Beautiful biennial Peruvian plants, 
with splendid scarlet flowers, which 
Professor Don, and some other bota- 
nists, class with the Gilias ; and which 
were formerly called Cantua. They 
are free-growing plants ; but as they 
are supposed to require protection dur- 
ing winter, they are generally grown 



in pots in Englind, and kept in a 
greenhouse. In America, however, 
it appears that these plants are found 
in a wild state in Georgia; and that 
they are left in the open ground all 
the winter, without any protection, in 
the neighbourhood of Boston, where 
the plants attain a size, (seven feet 
high,) and the flow r ers a brilliancy of 
colour quite unknown in Europe. 
They should be grown in a light and 
somewhat rich soil ; and care should be 
taken to prevent their roots from 
becoming sodden with water, as when 
this is the case, they are very apt to 
dam p off. 

Iris. — Iridctcece. — There are 
three distinct kinds of Iris, besides 
innumerable species, hybrids, and 
varieties. These are tli6 fibrous- 
rooted kinds, which grow best in a 
fine sandy loam, and which increase 
rapidly every year by suckers from the 
roots ; the tuberous-rooted kinds 
which are very apt to be destroyed by 
snails, or to rot from too much wet ; 
and the bulbous- rooted kinds, which 
should be taken up and replanted 
every second or third year, as the new 
bulbs, which are formed every season, 
are always directly under the old 
bulb ; and thus in the course of a few 
vears the bulbs descend so low as to 
be out of the reach of the air, and 
consequently incapable of vegetation. 
Thus it wiil be generally found that 
persons in the habit of growing Irises 
are always complaining of losing their 
plants, while the real fault rests with 
themselves for not taking up their 
bulbs at the proper time. The bul- 
bous and tuberous-rooted Irises suc- 
ceed best in sandy peat, or in any light 
and dry soil. The splendid Chalce- 
donian Iris is one of the tuberous- 
rooted kinds ; and it not only requires 
a dry soil during winter, but to be 
allowed plenty of pure air during the 
whole period of its growth, or it will 
be very apt to damp off. 



IXIA. 



155 



IXIA. 



Irish Ivy. — The giant ivy, /. ca- 
nariensis, which, though called Irish, 
is, in fact, a native of the Canary Is- 
lands. 

Irish Yew. — The upright growing 
yew, which forms a flame-shaped tree 
like the upright cypress, or Lombardy 
poplar, instead of spreading like the 
common kinds. When young, it makes 
a very handsome shrub, from the fine 
colour and luxuriance of its foilage. 

Is^ns. — Cruciferce.—I . tinctoria, 
the woad, is a British plant, used for 
dyeing blue, and which looks well in a 
miscellaneous border or shrubbery. 
Some of the species are dwarf plants, 
very suitable for rock-work. 

Isopo'gon. — Proteacece. — Austra- 
lian plants, with very curious leaves 
and flowers, nearly allied to Banksia. 
They should be grown in peat and 
sand, mixed with a little turfy loam, 
and the pot should be a third filled 
with potsherds broken small. These 
plants are very difficult to cultivate, 
as they are very apt to damp off ; the 
cuttings also are extremely difficult to 
strike. 

Iso'toma. — Lobeliacece. — Annual 
and biennial plants, which may be 
sown in the open ground, or brought 
forward in a hotbed, and planted out 
in May. i". axillaris is a most beau- 
tiful and elegant plant, the flowers of 
which look like a large lilac jasmine. 

Ftea. — Ericaceae. — A little hardy 
American shrub, which requires peat 
soil in British gardens. 

Ivy. — See He'dera. 

Ixia. — Iridacece — Bulbous-rooted 
plants, with very beautiful flowers, 
which vary exceedingly in colour and 
form. They are all natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope, and they are ge- 
nerally grown iu pots in greenhouses; 
but as, when thus treated, their slen- 
der stems are apt to become etiolated, 
and consequently very weak, they do 
much better in the open garden, 
treated in the following manner, in 



the climate of London : — A bed of 
any width and breadth that may be 
required, should be dug out to the 
depth of two or three feet, according 
to the nature of the soil, a retentive 
clay requiring to be dug deepest. Thi3 
bed should have a third part of its 
depth filled with pebbles, brick-bats, 
or any other draining material. A 
stratum of fresh turfy loam should be 
laid on this, and above it a stratum of 
rotten cow-dung, so as to fill the bed 
to within about a quarter of its depth 
from the surface of the ground. The 
bed should then be filled with a mix- 
ture of light turfy loam and sand, the 
loam being broken or chopped small, 
but not sifted. The surface of the 
bed should be raised two or three 
inches above the level of the sur- 
rounding border ; and it is most de- 
sirably situated, if backed by a south 
wall, and sloping from the wall to the 
gravel-walk. In this bed the Ixia 
roots should be planted in quincunx ; 
and if they are protected by a thatched 
covering raised on a slight wooden 
frame during winter, they may be left 
in the ground several years without 
sustaining any injury. In the north 
of England, or in any cold wet cli- 
mate, the Ixias may be planted in 
October in pots, well drained, with a 
layer of cow-dung over the drainage, 
and filled up with a mixture of turfy 
loam and sand. The Ixias should be 
planted three in each pot ; and the 
pots should be plunged into a hotbed, 
and covered with a glass frame during 
winter. In spring, the glasses may be 
gradually removed, and when the 
flowers are nearly ready to expand, 
the pots may be removed to the 
greenhouse, or the window of a sit- 
ting room. Where the soil of a garden 
is a fat yellow loam, or a chalky or 
other porous subsoil, and the situation 
dry and yet sheltered, the bulbs may 
frequently be planted in the open 
ground, and left there for years, with- 



JACOB^A LILY. 



156 



JASMI V NUM. 



out any other care than covering them 
with a heap of dead leaves during 
winter. 

Ixo x ra. — Crassulacea. Splendid 
stove plants. The history of Ixora 
coccinea, the best known species of the 
genus, is rather curious. It is a native 
of China, and some of the East India 
islands, where it is worshipped as a 
sacred plant ; and where it is said to 
form a small tree about six feet high, 
rising with a single stem, and having 
its head formed entirely of clusters of 
bright scarlet and yellow flowers, 
whence it has received the names of 
Flamma Sylvarum, and the Tree of 
Fire. This plant was first introduced 



in 1690; but it was soon lost, and its 
existence was even doubted till it was 
re-introduced about a hundred years 
afterwards by the celebrated Doctor 
Fothergill. After this, seeds were 
obtained by several nurserymen, and 
the plant was so much admired that 
it was sold for several years at five 
guineas each. It is now common in 
collections, but it is rather difficult to 
keep ; as, though it requires a moist 
heat, it will die if its roots are suffered 
to retain any stagnant moisture among 
them, and it must not be plunged 
either in tan or in a hotbed. It is 
also very liable to be attacked by 
insects. 



J. 



Jaca or Jack Tree. — A species of 
Artocarpus, or bread-fruit. 

Jacara'nda. — Bignoniaceee. — A 
climbing plant, a native of Brazil, with 
beautiful lilac flowers, shaped like 
those of the Catalpa. The wood is 
said to be the rosewood of commerce. 
In England it requires a stove. It 
should be grown in a mixture of loam 
and peat, and it should be kept nearly 
dry during winter. It is propagated 
by cuttings, which should not be de- 
prived of their leaves, and which must 
be struck in pure sand under a glass. 
Some persons suppose the rosewood 
to be a kind of Mimosa. 

Jacksc/nia — LeguminoscB. — Aus- 
tralian shrubs, generally kept in a 
greenhouse in England ; and which 
should be grown in peat. They are 
easily propagated by cuttings. 

Jacob^ea. — The plant usually called 
by this name is a species of Senecio, 
or Groundsel. It is also called Pur- 
ple Ragwort. See Sene v cio. 

Jacob^a Lily. — A splendid bulb- 
ous-rooted plant, formerly called by 
botanists Amaryillis formosissima, but 
the name of which is now changed to 
Sprekelia, which see. 



Jacquinia. — Myrsinece. — West 
Indian trees and shrubs, with showy 
flowers, requiring a stove in England. 
They should be grown in loam and 
sand, and are propagated by cuttings. 

Jalap. — The plant producing Jalap 
was formerly supposed to be a kind 
of Marvel of Peru ; but it is now dis- 
covered to be a kind of Convolvulus, 
or Ipomoea. 

Jambos, or the Rose Apple. — A 
kind of Eugenia, belonging to the 
order Myrtacese. 

Jasio v ne. — Campanulaceee. — 
Sheep's Scabious. An English weed. 

Jasmine. — See Jasminum. 

Jasmi x num. — Oleinece. — The 
Jasmines are shrubs remarkable for 
their fragrant flowers ; and the com- 
mon species, Jasminum officinale, is 
one of our most vigorous-growing 
wall-evergreens, though a native of 
India. There are several species hardy 
in British gardens, but the greater 
number require the greenhouse or 
stove. The principal hardy species is 
that already mentioned. It well de- 
serves a place against the wall of a 
house, or the piers of a veranda, which 
it will cover in a very short time ; or 



jasmtnum. 



157 



JUJUBE TREE. 



if planted against trellis- work, or 
against the frame-work of a bower, 
it will soon afford an agreeable shade, 
and produce its long, graceful, deep- 
green shoots, in such quantities, as, 
after covering the bower, to hang down 
to the ground all round it, and require 
to be separated like a curtain by a 
person entering. This plant and the 
common Ivy, when trained up a single 
post, with a spreading umbrella top of 
frame- work, form some of the finest 
objects in small gardens by their 
pendent branches, which not only 
hang down from a height of from 15 
feet or 20 feet to the ground, but 
trail along it to a considerable dis- 
tance. Like the Ivy, the common 
Jasmine is an evergreen; not, how- 
ever, from its leaves, but the deep 
green colour of its shoots. The 
flowers are white, and very fragrant, 
and yield an oil similar to that pro- 
duced by J. grandiflorum. J. re- 
volutum is a native of Nepaul, with 
yellow blossoms, and thrives against 
a wall, where it grows with great 
vigour, covering a large space in a 
short time. J. fruticans and J. 
humile are upright border shrubs, 
with yellow flowers, deciduous leaves, 
but deep green shoots. J. grandi- 
florum is a hothouse shrub that bears 
a good deal of resemblance to the 
common Jasmine, and yields the oil 
of Jasmine of the shops. J. odora- 
tissimum, from the Azores, has yel- 
low and very fragrant flowers and 
broad evergreen leaves. J. azoricum, 
a native of Madeira, requires the 
greenhouse, has white flowers, and is 
very fragrant ; and J. Sambac, a 
stove species, of which there is a va- 
riety with double flowers, is most 
fragrant during the night. It is to 
this species that Moore alludes in his 
beautiful lines on the Jasmine. There 
are several other species, but all are 
climbers excepting J. fruticans and 
J. humile, already mentioned. They 



will all thrive in any common garden- 
soiJ, mixed with leaf-mould ; and they 
may be all propagated by cuttings 
planted in sand, and covered with a 
hand-glass. 

Jatro'pha. — - Euphorbiacece. — 
The Physic-nut. West Indian trees 
and shrubs, which abound in a poison- 
ous juice, but which, when this is 
pressed out, are wholesome and nour- 
ishing. The substances called Ta- 
pioca, and Cassava- bread, are made 
from Jatropha Manihot. In Eng- 
land all the species must be grown in 
a stove, in a mixture of sandy loam 
and peat. They require small pots 
and very little water ; and they are 
propagated by cuttings. 

J efferso^nia— P odophyllacece . — 
An American marsh plant, which is 
generally grown in peat-soil, kept 
moist. It is increased by seeds, or 
dividing the root. 

Jerusalem Sage. — See Phlomis. 

Jet D'Eau. — A fountain, which 
consists of a single column of water, 
rising straight up out of the ground. 
See Fountains. 

Jonquil. — A kind of Narcissus. 

J udas Tree — CercisSHiquastrum 
— A low tree, producing numerous 
racemes of beautiful pink flowers, from 
the old wood of the trunk and 
branches. It grows freely in any 
common garden-soil, but prefers a 
warm and sheltered situation ; and it 
flowers best against a wall. The 
flowers have an agreeable and slightly 
acid taste ; and they are eaten in 
France, fried in batter, as fritters. 
There are several varieties, but the 
only distinct species is C. canadensis, 
a native of North America. As these 
plants bear abundance of seed, and 
grow rapidly, they are often raised 
from seed ; and hence the great num- 
ber of varieties. They may also be 
propagated by layers. 

Jujube Tree. — The lozenges called 
Jujube, are made from the fruit of 



JUNl'PERUS. 



158 



JUST1CIA. 



Zizyphus vulgaris, which ripens 
abundantly in the neighbourhood of 
Paris; but the real Jujube-tree is Z. 
Jujuba, a native of the East Indies, 
•which requires a stove in Europe. 
Both are nearly allied to Paliurus, or 
Christ's Thorn. 

Julibrissin. — This beautiful tree, 
which is a kind of Acacia, is called 
the Silk Tree, from the abundance 
and silkiness of its long, fine, tassel- 
like blossoms. It is rather tender in 
England, but it grows freely in Italy. 
See Acacia. 

Juniper. — See Juni'perus. 
Juni'perus. — Conifer as \ Ciir 
pressinece. — The Juniper. Ever- 
green shrubs, natives of different 
parts of the world, but most of which 
are hardy in British gardens. They 
all thrive in common soil, mixed with 
sand, or in heath mould ; and they 
are generally propagated by seeds, 
though they will all root from cut- 
tings. J", communis, a native of 
Britain, of which there are several 
varieties, is a very common hardy 
evergreen, sometimes found in the 
form of a low hush, and at others in 
that of a conical tree, like the Cypress. 
It bears clipping, makes excellent 
garden hedges, and was formerly cut 
into a great variety of shapes. The 
fruit is used throughout Europe to 
flavour ardent spirits (the spirit called 
Hollands being made from it), and 
the wood is burned in ovens or kilns 
to flavour dried beef, hams, or fish. J. 
virginiana, the Red Cedar, is one of 
the most common of small evergreen 
trees, or large shrubs. It is raised 
from seeds, and the male and fe- 
male plants being of different sizes, 
the individuals vary exceedingly in 
form and their manner of growth ; so 



that a number of plants of this species 
may exist in a shrubbery or pleasure- 
ground, and yet not two of them be 
alike. J. excelsa is a tall, Cypress- 
like shrub, or low tree, very hardy 
and very ornamental. J. recurva, 
a native of Nepaul, is a very elegant 
plant, with drooping shoots, well 
adapted for cemeteries. It is one of 
the hardiest of the species, and thrives 
even in the smoke of London. J. 
Sabina, the common Savin, is one 
of our most ancient garden shrubs, 
being almost the only coniferous ever- 
green planted in the time of Queen 
Elizabeth ; and there are several va- 
rieties of this species, all of which are 
beautiful. The fragrance of all the 
Junipers is resinous and refreshing, 
and many of the kinds are used in 
medicine. The wood used in mak- 
ing lead pencils is generally that of 
the red cedar ; or of the Barbadoes 
Cedar, Cedrela odorata, which last is 
a stove-plant in England. 

Jupiter's Beard. — Anthyllis. 
Barba Jovis. — An ornamental, low 
shrub, which will grow in any com- 
mon garden-soil, and is propagated by 
cuttings. 

Jussieua. — Onagrarice. — Aquatic 
shrubs, with large yellow flowers, re- 
sembling those of the (Enothera, or 
vellow evening primrose. Natives of 
South America, and only half-hardy 
in Britain. See Aquarium and Water 
Plants. 

Justicia. — Acanthacece. - — Stove 
plants, with showy and curious flowers. 
They require a rich light soil, or a 
mixture of loam and peat ; and flower 
freely with moderate care. They are 
propagated by cuttings, which strike 
readily in sand, under a hand-glass, 
and with bottom-heat. 



KEEL. 



159 



KNAUTIA. 



K. 



Kalmia. — Ericacece. — The Calico 
Laurel. Low shrubs, with beautiful 
flowers ; natives of North America. 
They may be grown with perfect 
safety in the open air, or they may be 
kept in a greenhouse and forced, so 
as to flower in February. They are 
generally grown in peat earth, on ac- 
count of their numerous, hair-like, 
fibrous roots ; and they may be re- 
moved even when in flower, without 
injury, if sufficient care be taken. 
They are propagated by layers, or by 
seeds, which are received every year 
in large quantities from America. The 
seeds should be sown in pots, in sandy 
peat, or heath mould, as it is called ; 
and they should be very thinly cover- 
ed. When the plants come up, they 
should be transplanted into other pots, 
putting three in each, and they should 
not be removed to the open ground 
till they are five or six inches high. 
They should be planted out in spring. 

Kalosa'nthes. — Crassulacece. — 
Mr. Haworth's name for Crdssula 
coccinea, and some of the allied spe- 
cies. See Crassula. 

Kaulfussia. — Composites. — A 
beautiful little annual, resembling an 
aster ; the ray florets of which curl 
curiously back after it has been ex- 
panded a short time. This plant was 
formerly considered half-hardy ; but 
it is found only to require sowing in 
the open border in April, to flower in 
May or early in June. Its beauty is, 
however, very short-lived ; as its 
flowers have generally all faded, and 
its seeds ripened before the end of 
July. It has been named Charieis 
by Professor De Candolle, but the 
name has not been generally adopted. 

Keel. — The lower part of the 
flower of a pea-flowered plant, con- 
sisting of two petals, so closed together 
as to resemble a little boat. 



Kennedia. — LeguminoscB. 
genus of well-known plants, 



— A 

with 



showy flowers, which has been lately 
divided by Mr. Bentham into four 
new genera, viz. : — Hardenbergia, 
comprising the species with small 
bluish or lilac flowers on slender 
branches, the type of which is K. 
mortophylla ; the Zichyas, having 
bunches of broad reddish flowers, with 
very short keels, as for example, K. 
coccinecs ; the Kennedias, with large 
scarlet or crimson flowers, having long 
keels ; and the Physalobiums, having 
flowers a good deal like those of the 
Zichyas, but with bladdery capsules. 
All the Kennedias are Australian 
climbing or trailing shrubs, which re- 
quire a greenhouse in England, and 
should be grown in heath mould, or 
very sandy loam, mixed with peat. 
They are propagated by cuttings, which 
strike readily in sand, under a bell- 
glass. 

Kerria. — Rosacea. — By some 
mistake, Kerria Japonica was at first 
supposed to belong to Corchorus, a 
genus of Tiliacese, and of course nearly 
allied to the Lime-tree ; to which it 
bears no resemblance, though it is still 
called Corchorus Japonica in the nur- 
series. It is also singular, that though 
the double -flowered variety was intro- 
duced into England in 1700, the species 
was not introduced till 1835. It is 
a delicate little shrub, too slender to 
support itself in the open air ; but 
when trained against a wall, flowering 
in great profusion. It should be 
grown in a light rich soil, and it is 
propagated by cuttings. 

Kidney Vetch. — See Anthyllis. 

Knapweed — Centaurea scabibsa. 

Knautia. — Dipsacece. — A very 
pretty little flower, requiring only 
the usual treatment of hardy an- 
nuals. 



laburnum. 



160 



LADANUM. 



Knight's Star. — A kind of Ama- 
ryllis, considered by some authors as 
forming a separate genus called Hip- 
peastrum. 

Knives are used in gardening for 
pruning, and also for budding and 
grafting. Pruning-knives were for- 
merly characterised by hooked blades; 
but as we have already mentioned 
under the article Instruments, straight- 
edged blades are now preferred, as 
making a cleaner cut. The best de- 
scription of budding-knife is manu- 
factured by H. Verinder, St. Paul's 
Church-yard ; it has a straight blade, 
the upper half of the back having also 
a cutting edge, and the handle is ter- 
minated by a rounded end. A great 
variety of garden-knives, of improved 
constructions, are manufactured by 
Messrs. Rogers and Sons, cutlers, 
Sheffield ; and of pruning-shears, of 
excellent kinds, by Messrs. Wilkin- 
son, of the same place. 

Knowltonia. — Ranunculacece. — 
Half-hardy perennial plants, natives 
of the Cape of Good Hope, nearly 
allied to Adonis vernalis. They 
should be grown in peat, mixed with 
a little loam ; and they are increased 
by dividing the roots. 

Kochia. — Chenopodiacece. — Bel - 
videre or Summer Cypress. An an- 



nual plant, formerly much cultivated 
in gardens, to gather for beaupots to 
place in the fire-places during sum- 
mer ; but which now is rarely seen. 
About a century ago many plants were 
grown for these large beaupots, but 
as they are now no longer used, the 
flowers that were to supply them are 
neglected. Kochia h quite hardy, 
and only requires sowing in the open 
ground. 

Kolreuteria. — Sapindacece. — 
A middle-sized deciduous tree, a na- 
tive of China, but quite hardy in 
British gardens, and very ornamental 
from its large variously-divided fo- 
liage, and its conspicuous terminal 
compound spikesof rich yellow flowers. 
These are freely produced in the cli- 
mate of London, and are often suc- 
ceeded by bladdery capsules, which 
contain seeds ; and from these, or 
cuttings of the roots, it is readily 
propagated. It will grow in any soil, 
and does not altogether dislike coal 
smoke. 

Koniga. — Cruciferce — The Sweet 
Alyssum. A pretty little annual, with 
white sweet-scented flowers, often 
used as an edging-plant to beds and 
borders. It only requires sowing in 
the open ground in March. 



Labels are pieces of wood, parch- 
ment, or metal, bearing the name of 
the plants, and tied to them. When 
the names are affixed to a piece of 
wood or metal, stuck into the ground, 
they are called tallies ; and of these 
there are many kinds. See Tally. 

Lablavia. — Leguminosce. — The 
Egyptian Bean, formerly called Do- 
leibos Lablab, but now Lablavia 
vulgaris. A half-hardy annual climb- 
ing plant, or biennial plant, which only 
requires the usual treatment of similar 
plants. It has a very showy flower. 

Laburnum. — Sec Cf/tisus, 



Lacebark. — See Lagetta. 

LachenaYia. — Asphodelece. — 
Cape bulbs, with very showy flowers. 
They will not need taking up in win- 
ter ; but must be grown in pots in 
a greenhouse, and allowed very little 
water at that season. They are ge- 
nerally grown in loam and peat, 
mixed with a little leaf-mould. 

Ladanum, or Labdanum. — A gum 
produced by some of the kinds of 
Cistus, quite different from Laudanum, 
which is a preparation from Opium, 
and made from the Poppy. 



LAMIUM. 



161 



la/thyrus. 



Ladies' Bedstraw. — See Galium. 
Ladies' Mantle. — SccAlchemilla. 
Ladies' Slipper. — See Cypri- 
pedium. 

Ladies' Traces. — See Spiranthes. 
Lje v lia. — Orchidaceee. — A very 
beautiful epiphyte, which may be 
grown with its roots wrapped in moss, 
and fastened on a piece of wood ; or in 
the husk of a cocoa-nut. The flowers 
are extremely beautiful and very deli- 
cate. See Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Lagena^ria. — Cucurbitacete. — 
The Bottle Gourd. An East Indian 
species of Gourd, which is sometimes 
grown on account of its curious shape; 
but the pulp of which is poisonous. 

Lagerstrohmia. — Lythrariea, or 
Salicari<B. The Pride of India. 
Beautiful trees, with flowers, some- 
thing like those of theClarkia in form, 
but much more brilliant in colour. 
L. indica is generally grown in the 
stove, but the other species succeed 
if planted in the open ground in a 
conservatory. 

Lagetta. — ThymealecB. — The 
Lacebark Tree. A shrub or low 
tree, a native of Jamaica, remarkable 
for the number of divisions into which 
its liber or inner bark may be split. 
This inner bark slips off the wood 
without difficulty; and when divided, 
it is so fine, and lace -like in its tex- 
ture, that Charles II. had a collar 
and ruffles made of it. In England 
the plant requires a stove, and to be 
grown in a mixture of loam and peat. 
It is propagated by cuttings, which 
are rather hard to strike. The flowers 
are white, and in shape they resemble 
those of the Mezereon ; but instead 
of being produced in clusters round 
the stem, they grow on a kind of 
spike, far apart from each other. 

Lamium. — Labiate. — The Dead 
Nettle. Annual and perennial plants 
that are quite hardy in the open 
ground in Britain ; but which succeed 
best in a light rich soil. 



Lanta^na. — Verbenacecs. -Green- 
house and hothouse plants, with 
pretty flowers, nearly allied to the 
Verbenas ; and the half-hardy ones 
requiring the same treatment. See 
Verbena. 

Lapeyrousia. — Iridacece. — Cape 
bulbs, with pretty flowers, which may 
be planted in a warm border, and left 
in the ground during winter, if pro- 
tected during that season by a hand- 
glass, &c, from frost, or heavy rain. 

Larkspur — See Delphinium. 

Lasiope'talum — Byttermacece. — 
Australian low shrubs, which require 
a greenhouse in England, and are 
grown in loam and peat, and propa- 
gated by cuttings. 

Lasthe x nia. — Composite. — Cali- 
fornian annuals, with bright yellow 
flowers ; which require the usual 
treatment of Californian plants. — 
See Californian Annuals. 

La'thyrus. — Leguminoscs. — A 
genus of vigorous-growing, very orna- 
mental perennials and annuals, of 
which those best known are L. lati- 
fblius, the everlasting Pea, with pink 
flowers, and a variety with pure white 
flowers, both growing to the height of 
six feet or eight feet when supported 
by sticks, in the manner of common 
Peas, or trained to a trellis ; L. 
grandiflbrus, a perennial remarkable 
for the large size of its flowers ; L. 
odoratus, the common Sweet Pea, an 
annual remarkable for the fragrance 
of its blossoms, which are of various 
colours ; and L. tingitanus, the 
Tangier Pea, a tall-growing plant, 
the flowers of which are dark purple. 
Another very interesting species is Lord 
Anson's pea, L.magellanicus, a per- 
ennial plant, interesting from the 
beauty of its foliage and its blue flowers, 
and not nearly so much cultivated as 
it ought to be : against a wall, it is a 
rare, and at the same time a very ele- 
gant species. There are many others, 
both annuals and perennials, all of 

M 



LAWN. 



162 



LAWN. 



which are more or less showy, and 
being of vigorous growth are well 
adapted for broad borders. They will 
grow in any common soil ; the an- 
nuals are propagated by seeds, and 
the perennials by division of the 
root. 

Laurel. — See Ce'rasus. 

Laurus. — Lauracece. — The Sweet 
Bay, L. nobilis, is a very handsome 
evergreen shrub or low tree, with 
dark green leaves. It is somewhat 
tender, and requires a sheltered situ- 
ation. The male and female flowers 
are on different plants ; and the for- 
mer, which are of a rich yellow, are 
by far the most showy. It will grow 
in any common soil, and it is propa- 
gated by layers. The leaves are used 
to flavour custards. The fruit of the 
female plant is a round dark purple 
berry, produced in abundance in fine 
seasons ; but, unfortunately, in nur- 
series, the male plant is by far the 
most common. 

Lava'ndula. — Labiates. — The La- 
vender is a low suffrutescent bush, 
well known for the fragrance of its 
flowers, and for an oil which they 
yield by distillation in water. L. 
Stoechas, the French Lavender, is a 
more ornamental plant than the com- 
mon kind, but somewhat tender. 
Both require a dry calcareous soil, and 
an open airy situation. The common 
Lavender is cultivated on a large 
scale at Mitcham, and also at Henley- 
on-Thames. At both places it is 
propagated by cuttings of the young 
wood planted in autumn, and seeds 
are sold in the seed-shops. 

Lava'tera. — MalvacecB.—A very 
showy annual, common in flower- 
gardens, which only requires sowing 
in the open border in March or April. 
There are also two shrubbery kinds. 
See Tree Mallow. 

Lawn. — Smooth mown turf, when 
of any extent in pleasure grounds, is 
called a lawn ; and its chief beauties 



are the uniformity of its surface, and 
uniformity in the kinds of grasses which 
cover it, and which produce an uni- 
form tone of green. These objects 
are produced by first preparing the 
soil, which should be a sandy loam, 
or a loam slightly inclining to sand, 
of a foot or more in depth, and equal- 
ly drained throughout, so as every- 
where to retain the same degree of 
moisture. Next the same mixture of 
grasses should be sown throughout, 
and lastly they should be mown at re- 
gular intervals, say of a fortnight 
during the summer months, and a 
month during spring and autumn. 
Whenever coarse grasses, or broad- 
leaved plants of any kind appear, they 
should be taken out with the spud ; 
and whenever any spot becomes bare, 
the soil should be renewed, and 
pieces of fresh turf introduced, or 
seeds sown ; also, when worms dis- 
figure the surface, the castings which 
they throw up should be scraped off, 
and the surface watered with lime- 
water, by which all the worms will be 
destroyed. In general, it is impos- 
sible to produce a fine lawn, except 
in an open, airy situation, with a 
soil which will retain moisture during 
summer; for in close pent-up places, 
surrounded by walls or hedges, and 
under the drip of trees and shrubs, no 
kind of grass will grow. In such 
places, all that can be done is to en- 
courage the growth of moss, which 
will spring up naturally wherever the 
soil is kept sufficiently moist ; but 
where it is very dry, the branches of 
the trees and shrubs shonld be allow- 
ed to trail on the surface, so as com- 
pletely to cover it. In some situa- 
tions, where the branches of the trees 
and shrubs do not lie close to the 
surface, or where they are chiefly of 
deciduous kinds, the surface may be 
clothed with ivy or periwinkle. In 
very small gardens, grass plots are 
generally formed by rolls of turf taken 



LAWN. 



163 



LAWN. 



from the surfaces of some adjoining 
pasture-field or meadow ; but when 
grass-seed is sown, the following kinds 
are considered the best : — Fox-tail 
meadow grass, Alopecurus pratensis, 
which should, form one-fourth of the 
whole ; the sweet-scented spring- 
grass, Anthoocanthemum odoratum, 
which gives the fragrance to new hay ; 
and Poa pratensis, the common, 
meadow-grass. To these may be 
added the crested dog's-tail-grass, 
Cynosiirus cristatus, and the hard 
fescue grass, Festiica duriuscula, 
with about the proportion of a bushel 
of white clover-seed to four bushels 
of the other mixture ; and this quan- 
tity will suffice for an acre of ground. 

Layering is a mode of propagating 
used both in the case of ligneous and 
herbaceous plants, and the operation is 
performed by choosing a young shoot 
of the current or the preceding year, 
bending it down to the ground, cover- 
ing a portion of it near the extremity 
of the shoot with an inch or more of 
soil, previously fixing it there with a 
hooked stick. In general, layers of 
woody plants made in autumn may 
be taken off about the same season 
the following year ; but some trees 
and shrubs, such as Magnolias, the 
tree Ivy, &c, require to remain on 
the tree for two years. Roses layered 
in the summer season with shoots of 
the same year's growth may be taken 
off the following spring ; but the ge- 
neral practice is to lay them in 
autumn or winter, and allow them 
to remain on the plants for a year. 
Layers of herbaceous plants, such as 
Carnations, Pinks, double Sweet Wil- 
liams, and Chrysanthemums, made in 
the beginning of summer, will have 
made roots by the autumn ; and the 
layers of Chrysanthemums so rooted 
will flower the winter of the same 
year. To facilitate the rooting of all 
layers, whether ligneous or herbace- 
ous, a notch or slit is made in that 



part of the shoot which is buried in 
the soil ; or it is twisted, or a portion 
of the bark taken off, or in some 
other way wounded, bruised, or in- 
jured, so as to check the return of the 
sap by the bark, when the sap accu- 
mulating at the upper lip of the 
wound, forms a callosity there of 
granulated matter, from which roots 
are soon after emitted. In laying 
herbaceous plants, and more especially 
Carnations, the slit is made on the 
under side of the shoot, and in the 
case of woody plants on the upper 
side. In both cases, the knife is en- 
tered immediately below a bud or 
joint ; roots being always more freely 
protruded at the joints of plants, than 
in the intervals between them. The 
cut is generally made half through 
the shoot, and continued up half an 
inch or an inch, and to keep it open a 
small splinter of wood, or a small flat 
stone, or a piece of slate, or a pot- 
sherd, is put in between the divided 
parts to irritate the wound and cause 
it to protrude granulous matter. In 
laying herbaceous plants, it was for- 
merly the custom to shorten the 
leaves remaining on the layer, but in 
modern practice this is considered un- 
necessary and even injurious, by less- 
ening the powers of the leaves to ela- 
borate the sap. The leaves are always 
stripped off that part of the layer 
which is buried in the soil. In lay- 
ering some woody plants, such as 
certain kinds of roses, tree Peonies, 
&c, the entire shoot is laid down, and 
the knife entered immediately below 
each eye ; and, the wound being kept 
open by splinters of wood or stones, 
the whole shoot is covered with earth 
to the depth of half an inch or an 
inch, according as the soil is sandy or 
loamy, and a shoot is afterwards sent 
up from each eye, so that a shoot 
thus laid down produces nearly as 
many plants aa it has buds. This 
' practice is much more successful with 
m2 



LEAF-MOULD. 



164 



LEAVES. 



some kinds of shrubs and trees than 
with others, and it is not at all appli- 
cable to herbaceous plants. Some 
shrubs, such as the Honeysuckle, Te- 
coma, Wistaria, &c, which produce 
long shoots, and continue growing 
throughout the summer, may be peg- 
ged down as they grow, and the slit 
made behind each bud, or e% T ery other 
bud, covering the joint so treated with 
soil. A great many plants are thus 
produced from a single shoot in one 
season, more especially in moist, 
warm summers, or in a warm situa- 
tion, where water is applied artifici- 
ally. Layers of every description root 
most freely in sandy soil, in an open 
airy situation ; and those which are 
difficult to root succeed best where 
the soil is almost a pure sand. The 
layering of Carnations is an operation 
particularly suitable for ladies, more 
especially when the plants are in 
pots, as they can he placed on a table 
or bench, and there will be no occa- 
sion for stooping. 

Laying in by the Heels. — When 
plants are taken up for removal, if 
they cannot be planted immediately, 
they are generally laid together hori- 
zontally, in a trench made for that 
purpose ; and the roots covered with 
earth. This is done to prevent the 
roots from becoming dry and wi- 
thered, which they would do if they 
were left exposed to the open air for 
any length of time. 

Leadwort. — See Plumba v go. 

Leaf-Mould is formed of decayed 
leaves, and is one of the most useful 
materials in the culture of flowers. 
All plants whatever will grow in leaf- 
mould, mixed with loam and sand ; 
and many plants will grow in leaf- 
mould alone. It is particularly use- 
ful for growing plants in pots, espe- 
cially Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Petu- 
nias, Brugmansias, &c. ; and in many 
cases it may be used as a substitute 
for heath-mould. Leaf-mould is 



formed by sweeping up the leaves of 
trees and shrubs in autumn and win- 
ter, and laying them in heaps in a 
convenient place to rot, turning them 
over occasionally, so as to expose 
continually a new surface to the ac- 
tion of the air. At the end of a year, 
a considerable portion of the leaves 
will have become mould, and may be 
separated from the rest by sifting; 
and at the end of two years, the whole 
will have become one mass of mould. 
If it were required to grow any kind 
of herbaceous plants to the largest 
possible size, within a given time, I 
do not know how it could be better 
done than by placing the plant in the 
centre of a bed, three or four cubi- 
cal yards deep, of leaf-mould mixed 
with coarse sand, thoroughly drained 
by a stratum of stones at the bottom, 
and amply supplied with water. Pine- 
apples in France, and Melons in Hol- 
land, are grown to an enormous size 
in only leaf-mould and sand. The best 
substitute for leaf-mould is heath- 
mould, mixed with sifted very rotten 
dung. Or rotten dung alone may be 
used, if it has become so thoroughly 
decayed as to form a kind of mould. 

Leather Wood. — See Dirca. 

Leaves are, next to roots, the most 
important parts of plants. With a 
root a plant will begin to grow, but un- 
less the leaves which it produces are 
allowed to come to maturity, it will 
soon cease to live, because it is in the 
leaves alone that the moisture im- 
bibed by the roots is elaborated into 
the sap or vital juice of the plant. 
Nothing so decidedly shows the igno- 
rance or knowledge of a gardener as 
the manner in which he treats the 
leaves of plants. Those of bulbs 
many gardeners will, if not prevented, 
cut off as soon as the plants have done 
flowering ; and in general gardeners 
wish to perform the same operation on 
all herbaceous plants after they have 
flowered. When a man of this de- 



LEAVES. 



165 



le'dum. 



scription makes a layer or a cutting of 
a shoot that has the leaves on, he ei- 
ther takes them off entirely or cuts off 
their tips, not knowing that it is by 
means of the leaves alone that such 
cuttings can produce roots. (See 
Cuttings.) At the base of every 
leaf there is the rudiment of a bud, 
either visible or dormant, and unless 
the leaf be allowed to come to matu- 
rity, this rudiment is killed or pre- 
vented from becoming a vital germ. 
Wherever buds are required, there- 
fore, it is necessary to preserve leaves. 
But leaves not only return sap to the 
buds at the base of their petioles, but 
through these petioles they return sap 
to the general circulation of the plant ; 
and hence, the growth both of the 
roots of the plant and its shoots de- 
pends entirely on the number of its 
healthy leaves. Leaves perform their 
office of elaborating the sap by expo- 
sure to the light and air, and more 
especially to the direct influence of 
the sun ; therefore it is not sufficient 
to preserve the leaves which a plant 
produces, it is also necessary to pre- 
vent them from being darkened by 
adjoining plants or other objects, or 
from darkening other leaves. This 
in some cases requires thinning both of 
leaves and shoots; but more gene- 
rally it may be effected by placing 
the plant in an open airy situation. 
As the progress of a plant, therefore, 
after it is once originated, and planted 
in a proper soil and situation, depends 
entirely on the leaves and on their 
treatment ; it follows that the growth 
of the plant may be in a great mea- 
sure checked by the removal of the 
leaves, either before they have burst 
from the bud or immediately after- 
wards. In this way Mr. Beaton has 
reduced the shoots of the most vigor- 
ous-growing fruit-trees without ever 
once using the knife. The same prin- 
ciple may be applied in the case of 
every other description of plant. 



Leaves are also occasionally used 
instead of manure or tan, for hotbeds ; 
and very frequently for what are 
called linings to old hotbeds, theheat 
of which has decreased. 

Lechenau v ltia. — Goodenbvice. — 
There are two species of this well- 
known genus, both natives of New 
Holland, and both conspicuous for the 
great abundance of their dark scarlet 
flowers. L. formbsa is very common 
in windows, greenhouses, and small 
balconies ; but, though it is so gene- 
ral a favourite, few people can keep 
it long. The fact is, that though it 
does not belong to the same natural 
order as the heath, it very much re- 
sembles it in habit, and it is even more 
easily killed. The Lechenaultia should 
be grown in heath-mould mixed with 
a little loam, and treated exactly like 
a heath : that is, never suffered to be- 
come too dry, and never saturated 
with water. It should be potted high, 
so as to leave the collar above the 
mould in the centre of the pot ; and 
when kept in a balcony, the pot in 
which it grows should be placed withiu 
another pot, so that the roots may not 
be injured, by the outside of the pot 
becoming heated by the sun. The 
most important point, however, is to 
allow the plant plenty of air, as it 
will not live without abundance of both 
air and light. L. Baxterii is much 
more beautiful than the old species, 
as the flowers are much larger and 
more brilliant, but it requires the 
same treatment. 

Letjum. — Ericaceae. — The Labra- 
dor Tea. American low shrubs, with 
pretty white flowers, which require 
to be grown in peat and sand, heath- 
mould, or very sandy loam. Ledum 
buxifolia, the Sand Myrtle, is fre- 
quently called Ammyrsine buxifd- 
lia in the nurseries. It is a very 
pretty, compact-growing little plant, 
with box-like leaves, and clusters of 
white flowers, which have a pink tinge 



lespede'za. 



166 



LEVELLING. 



on the back of the petals. It is very 
suitable for beds in a geometric flower- 
garden, or for rockwork, but it re- 
quires a slight protection during se- 
vere frosts. 

Leguminous Plants. — Plants that 
produce their seeds in a pod or le- 
gume, like the common bean and 
pea ; some of them have pea-flowers, 
and others have tassel-like flowers, 
like those of the Acacias. 

Leiophy'llum. — Another name for 
Ledum buxifblia. 
Lemna. — Duckweed. 
Lemon. — See Ci'trus. 
Leoni n tis. — Labiates. — Lion's-ear. 
Shrubby plants, from the Cape of 
Good Hope, with scarlet or orange 
flowers, which are produced in whorls 
round the joints of the stems. The 
flowers are produced in autumn, and 
the plants require a light rich soil. 

Leo'ntodon — Composites. — L. 
taraxacum is the common Dandelion. 

Lkonu x rus. — Labiatce. — Mother- 
wort. Annual and biennial plants, 
with reddish or purplish flowers, na- 
tives of Europe, quite hardy in any 
common soil. 

Leopard's Bane. —See Do'ronicum. 
Leptosi'phon. — Polemoniacece. 
—Pretty Californian annuals, nearly 
allied to Gilia, which will bear a 
moderate degree of cold better than 
too much heat. For their culture, 
see Annuals. 

Leptospe'rmum. — Myrtacece. — 
Very pretty Australian half-hardy 
shrubs, with white flowers, which are 
generally kept in a greenhouse in 
England, but which may be grown in 
the open air, with a slight protection 
during winter. They require a sandy 
loam mixed with peat in nearly equal 
quantities : and they are generally 
propagated by cuttings, as the plants 
which are raised from seed are a long 
time before they flower. 

Lespede za. — LeguminoscB.--Vez- 
flowered perennial plants, nearly al- 



lied to the French Honeysuckle : 
which only require to be planted in 
any common garden soil, in the open 
borders. 

Lesse'rtia. — Leguminbsee. — L. 
pulchra is a pretty little half-shrubby 
plant, with purplish-red pea-flowers, 
which are produced in May. It is a 
native of the Cape of Good Hope, and 
it is generally kept in a greenhouse. 

Leuco'jum. — Amaryllidacece. — ■ 
The Snow-flake. Beautiful bulbous- 
rooted plants, natives of Europe, as 
hardy as the common Snow-drop, and 
requiring the same treatment, except 
that they do not succeed quite so well 
under the drip of trees. 

Leucopo^gon. — EpacridefB.— Aus- 
tralian half-hardy shrubs, with spikes 
of feathery white flowers. They are 
very abundant in the temperate re- 
gions of Australia, and only require a 
slight protection in England during 
winter. 

Leuco'thoe. — Ericacece — One of 
the new genera into which Professor 
Don has divided the genus Erica. 

Levelling is an operation which is 
required on a large scale in laying out 
gardens, and on a smaller scale in 
digging uneven ground. In either 
case, care should be taken to keep 
the best soil on the surface, so that 
when a hill is to be lowered in order 
to fill up a hollow, the first operation 
is to take off the surface of both, and 
reduce the ground to a uniform in- 
clination or level, by removing tho 
subsoil; and replacing the surface soil 
afterwards evenly over the whole. In 
practice it is seldom, if ever, desirable 
to reduce a surface to a perfect level, 
because in that case the rain which 
fell on it would not readily run off. 
An inclination should generally be 
given from one side to the other ; or, 
when the plot is a square, from the 
centre to all the sides ; and this incli- 
nation may be so gentle as to render it 
quite impossible to be detected by the 



LICHEN. 



167 



LIGU N STRUM. 



eye alone. A piece of ground fifty 
feet broad may have an inclination of 
three inches, if the soil be loamy and 
retentive ; but if it be sandy and ab- 
sorbent, an inch and a half will be 
sufficient. In levelling lawns, no 
part whatever of the surface ought to 
be on what is called a dead, or perfect 
level ; because as the grass retains the 
water on the surface like a sponge, if- 
the soil be loamy, it will soon become 
mossy and unpleasant to walk on dur- 
ing the whole of the winter and 
spring. All flat lawns, therefore, on 
clayey soil, ought not only to have a 
gentle inclination, but frequent drains, 
the stones in which ought to be 
brought up to within a few inches of 
the surface. In arranging the incli- 
nation of dug surfaces, care should be 
taken that the water is not thrown on 
the gravel-walks ; for which purpose 
drains are requisite in the marginal 
borders, — though in general, dug soil, 
if the stratum be not retentive, is suf- 
ficiently absorbent to render such 
drains unnecessary, the superfluous 
water of the subsoil finding its way 
to the drains of the walks. 

Leyceste^ria. — Caprifoliacece, — 
L. formbsa is a very handsome plant, 
with long spikes of reddish flowers, 
which will not only thrive, but grow 
more luxuriantly in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the sea, than in any 
other situation. It is a native of 
Nepal ; and was introduced in 1824. 
It was, however, soon lost through in- 
judicious treatment—probably through 
keeping it too warm ; but it has been 
lately reintroduced, and it is now 
found to grow vigorously in the open 
ground. It is propagated by cuttings 
and seeds. 

Liatris Composites — Weedy- 
looking hardy perennials, with pur- 
plish flowers, which will grow in any 
common garden soil, and are increased 
by dividing the roots. 

Lichen. — Cryptogamia Liche- 



nes. — Moss-like plants, generally 
found on old walls, desert heaths, or 
the bark of old trees ; also frequently 
on dead wood. 

Light is as essential as air and 
water to plants ; and without abund- 
ance of light, plants are neither vigor- 
ous in themselves, nor properly co- 
loured. When greenhouse plants are 
kept in imperfectly lighted plant- 
houses, or in half-darkened rooms, 
it is really painful to witness the ef- 
forts they make to catch as much 
light as they possibly can; their 
stems become weak, from being unna- 
turally elongated, or drawn up and 
twisted, in their efforts to reach the 
light, and their flowers are pale 
and of very little value. In those 
towns where the atmosphere is thick- 
ened by coal-smoke, the light never 
has the same beneficial effect as in 
the open country, where there is no- 
thing to prevent it from exercising 
its full influence over the plants. 

Lignum Vit*:. — Guaiacum offi- 
cinale is a tree, a native of the West 
Indies, remarkable for the hardness 
of its wood. It has blue flowers, 
which are produced in succession all 
the summer. It requires a stove in 
England, and should be grown in a 
mixture of peat and loam. See Guai- 
acum. 

Ligu'strum. — OleacecB. — The 
Privet is one of the most common, 
but at the same time most use- 
ful, of garden shrubs. The plant, in 
its wild state in Britain, is deciduous ; 
but there is a variety obtained origi- 
nally from Italy, which is evergreen, 
and which forms hedges for shelter of 
every size, from those of six inches in 
width and one foot in height, to 
hedges ten feet high and two or three 
feet in width. These hedges afford 
an excellent shelter to exposed flower- 
gardens, and also when planted on the 
south side of a border, shady situa- 
tions for particular kinds of plants, 



LIGU'STRUM. 



168 



li'lium. 



such as Primroses, Polyanthuses, the 
rarer kinds of Ranunculaceae, Tril- 
liums, Cypripediurns, Bog Orchideae, 
and a great variety of others. The 
Privet is preferable to all other plants 
for garden-hedges on account of the 
rapidity of its growth, and the nature 
of its roots, which are chiefly fibrous, 
and never extend to a great distanee 
from the plant. The tree Box has 
the same properties, but then it is of 
much slower growth. The evergreen 
Privet is also one of the best plants for 
verdant architecture and sculpture ; 
because it grows compact, is of a deep 
green colour, bears the shears well, 
and the leaves being small, they are 
not disfigured by clipping, like those 
of the Holly or the Laurel. The Box 
equals it in the smallness of the 
leaves, but it grows more slowly ; and 
though the Juniper and Yew surpass 
it, because their leaves never show 
the mark of the shears, they grow 
much slower still. It is much to be 
regretted, that with there-introduction 
of the French and Italian modes of 
laying out flower-beds, the verdant 
arcades, colonnades, and detached 
figures of obelisks, pyramids, cones, 
and figures of men and animals, are 
not re-introduced also ; but as this 
will probably soon be the case for the 
sake of propriety and consistency of 
character, the Privet will then be 
found an invaluable shrub. It grows 
in any soil and situation, even in 
narrow courts amid coal-smoke, and 
it is readily propagated by cuttings. 
It also grows under the shade of trees, 
and is therefore admirably adapted for 
thickening and darkening narrow 
shrubberies and screening of planta- 
tions. As a single object, the Privet is 
very ornamental,whether covered with 
its white flowers or its dark-purple ber- 
ries ; and there are varieties with 
green, white, and yellow berries, and 
variegated leaves. Ligustrum liici~ 
dum, and L. spiedtum, are very or- 



namental sub-evergreen shrubs or low 
trees, natives of China and Nepal ; 
but they are liable to be injured by 
very severe winters. These two spe- 
cies are propagated by budding or 
grafting on the common Privet. 

Lilac. — See Syringa. 

Li'lium. — Liliacece. or Tulipd- 
cece. — The Lily is a splendid genus 
of bulbous-rooted plants. All the 
species are beautiful, and most of 
them are hardy. Lilium candidum 
grows from three feet to five feet 
high, and its pure white flowers which 
appear in June, are well-known from 
being placed by painters in the hands 
of the Virgin. L. bulbiferum, a 
native of Italy, has orange flowers, 
which appear in June and July, and 
the plant is equally high with the 
preceding species. L. philadelphieum 
grows five feet or six feet high, and 
produces its fine scarlet flowers in 
August. L. Pompbnium is a splen- 
did species, with scarlet flowers, pro- 
duced in May and June, and L. t%- 
grtnum grows six feet high,' and pro- 
duces its black-spotted orange flowera 
in August and September. There are 
many other hardy species in cultiva- 
tion ; and L.eximium, L.jap6nium> y 
L. longijlbrum, and some others, 
eminently beautiful, and chiefly with 
white flowers, require the protection 
of the greenhouse, or a cold frame. 
The species which are natives of 
America thrive best in sandy peat, 
kept moist when the plants are in a 
growing state; but the others grow 
freely in common garden soil. They 
are all readily propagated by offsets, 
which they produce in abundance. 
The bulbs of all the species are pro- 
bably edible when cooked, for those 
of L. Pompbnium are used in Kamt- 
schatka in the same way as potatoes 
are in Britain ; and they all belong 
to what are called the scaly bulbs, 
which may remain several years in the 
ground without taking up, and which, 



LIMNO'CHARIS. 



169 



LIPA V RIA. 



when they are taken up, should be 
planted again as soon as possible. 

Lily. — See Lilium. 

Lily of the Valley. — See Con- 

VALLARIA. 

Limax. — This is the scientific name 
for the slug, one of the most destruc- 
tive creatures in existence for a 
garden. The slug differs from the 
snail in having no apparent shell, 
though it has the rudiments of a shell 
buried in the upper part of its body. 
Like the snail also, it can only crawl 
when the earth is moist with raiu or 
dew : as when the ground is dry, it 
absorbs too much of the slime which 
both slugs and snails are obliged to 
discharge from their bodies to enable 
them to glide along. There are many 
kinds of slugs, nearly all of which are 
destructive to vegetation ; the only 
exception being the shell-slug (Tes- 
tacella), which lives on earth-worms. 
These creatures are by no means com- 
mon ; but they are found in the earth 
near hothouses, in the neighbourhood 
of London, and they may be known 
by their dirty yellow colour, and by 
their having a little scale-like shell, 
which naturalists call the shield or 
buckler, on the outside and on the 
highest part of the body, near the 
breathing-hole, which it is probably 
intended to protect. Slugs may be 
destroyed in the same manner as 
snails. See Helix. 

Lime. — A kind of Citrus, rarely 
grown in England, but requiring the 
same treatment as the orange and the 
lemon. See Citrus. 

Limna'nthes. — Limnanthecece. — 
One of the Californian annuals, the 
flowers of which are yellow in the 
centre, with a deep border of white. 
For the culture, see Annuals. 

LiMNo'cHAnis. — Hydrocharidece, 
or ButomecB. — These plants, which 
are natives of Brazil, are either an- 
nual or biennial, and the seed should 
be sown in a layer of rich, loamy soil, 



at the bottom of a cistern or tub, 
which should be kept very moist ; and 
as the young plants grow, the tub or 
cistern should be gradually filled with 
water- They require the heat of a 
stove. 

Lina^ria. — Scrophularinece. — 
Toad-flax. Hardy annuals, that only 
require sowing in March, April, or 
May, in the open border. They will 
grow in any soil or situation ; but 
they prefer a rather stiff, poor soil, 
and an open, exposed situation. Se- 
veral of the kinds have been removed 
from the genus Antirrhinum (Snap- 
dragon) to which they are very nearly 
allied. 

Linn^ea. — CaprifoliacecB. — A 
trailing plant, adapted for rockwork, 
or pots, as it is too insignificant in its 
appearance to produce any effect in 
the open garden. It should be grown 
in loam and peat, and it may be pro- 
pagated by cuttings, which should b© 
struck under a hand-glass. 

Linum. — Linacece. — The Flax. 
The common flax, the fibres of the 
stalk of which are used to make 
linen, has pretty blue flowers ; but 
there are other species of the genus 
with showy yellow flowers. Some of 
the perennial kinds are rather tender, 
and require to be protected during 
severe winters ; they are also liable to 
damp off if kept too moist. They 
should be grown in light soil, con- 
sisting principally of vegetable mould ; 
and the dwarf kinds are very suitable 
for rockwork. They are generally 
propagated by cuttings or seeds, which 
they ripen abundantly. 

Lion's-ear. — See Leono'tis. 

Lion's-tail. — Leonbtis Leontt- 
rus. 

Lipa ria. — Legumiyiosce. — Dwarf 
greenhouse shrubs, with orange or 
yellow flowers, natives of the Cape 
of Good Hope. Many of the species 
are now called Priestleya. They 
should be grown in loam and peat. 



lisia'xthus. 



17' 







lobe'lia. 



Liquid Manure may be described 
as a decoction of any description of 
putrescent manures, such as stable- 
dung, pig's-dung, pigeon-dung, sheep's 
dung, &c. It may be used with great 
advantage in the kitchen-garden, but 
is seldom required in the culture of 
flowers ; and indeed many of the finer 
kinds have been injured by it, though 
some few, such as the Hydrangeas, 
the commoner Pelargoniums, Chry- 
santhemums, Cockscombs, Balsams, 
Auriculas, &c, have been benefited. 
Liquid manure ought not to be ap- 
plied to plants till they have attained 
a considerable degree of strength and 
vigour ; and after it has been once 
used, it ought to be contiuued with- 
out intermission as a substitute for 
common water, till the plants have 
attained the wished-for degree of ma- 
turity. 

Liquidamber. — Amentacece. — 
Though too large a tree to come within 
the scope of this work, it may be 
mentioned for its ornamental appear- 
ance when quite young, from the 
brilliant purplish-red assumed by its 
leaves in autumn. It is quite hardy, 
and will grow in any common garden 
soil. 

LiauoRicE — See Glycyrrhiza. 

LiRioDE v NDRON.--iWa<7?io/iace<K. — 
The Tulip-tree grows to a still larger 
6ize than the Liquidamber ; but it is 
very ornamental from its flowers, 
which somewhat resemble those of 
the Parrot-tulip, and its curiously- 
shaped leaves. It does not, however, 
flower till it has become a large tree. 
The seeds, which are imported from 
America, often lie two years in the 
ground before they come up. 

Lisia'nthus GentianecB — Lig- 
neous, perennial, and biennial plants, 
natives of the West Indies ; which 
require a hothouse or greenhouse in 
England. L. Russelianus has hand- 
some purple flowers ; but they are not 
so beautiful as was at first sup- 



posed, and the species is neither 
hardy nor annual. All the species 
should be grown in a mixture of loam 
and peat, and they are all propagated 
by cuttings struck in sand, under a 
bell-glass. 

Lisa'nthe. — Epacridece. — The 
plants should be grown in a green- 
house, in peat aud sand ; and they 
are propagated by cuttings of the tips 
of the shoots, like heaths. 

Lissochi lus. — OrchidacecB. — 
One of the terrestrial Orchidese from 
the Cape of Good Hope, which should 
be grown in peat and loam, and is 
propagated by dividing the roots. It 
is generally kept in a stove. 

Li'tt^a, or Ly'ttjea. — Bromeli- 
acece. — Handsome plants, nearly al- 
lied to Agave, with spreading leaves 
and long spikes of flowers. The fine 
plant, formerly known as Bonapartea 
juncea, is now called Lyttcea gemini- 
flbra. They should be grown in 
sandy loam, aud are increased by 
suckers from the roots. 

Loam. — Clay is one of the primi- 
tive earths, of so close and compact a 
texture, as to be almost unfit for ve- 
getation, unless mixed with some 
lighter material ; but, combined with 
sand and decayed vegetables, it forms 
loam. What are called sandy loam, 
and yellow loam, are two kinds of 
soil very conducive to vegetation ; and 
sandy loam is perhaps the best of all 
soils for a garden. 

. Loa v sa. — LoasacecB. — Stinging 
annual and biennial plants, with 
showy flowers. The splendid climb- 
ing plant, L. lateritia, or aurantica, 
is now discovered to be Caiophora 
punicea, the difference between the 
genera consisting in the Caiophora 
having a twisted seed-pod, while that 
of the Loasa is plain. The species are 
all nearly hardy, but they do best 
when raised on a slight hotbed, and 
planted out in May. 

Lobe'lia Lobeliacecs. — Nothing 



lophospe'rmum. 



17 



1 



LUNA^RIA. 



can exceed the beauty of the plants 
retained in this genus, some of which 
are tender, requiring a stove, and 
others of which are quite hardy, 
growing freely in the open ground. 
Some also are quite dwarf, and others 
tall plants ; some are blue, others 
scarlet, and others yellow ; and some 
are annuals, and the others perennials. 
All the Lobelias require a light rich 
soil, and plenty of moisture. The 
large, tall-growing kinds, with scarlet 
or pink flowers, are now frequently 
called Tupa. 

Loblolly Bay. — See GobWnia. 

Locust Tree of the Americans, or 
Cobbett's Locust.— Robinia Pseudo- 
Acacia. — See Robi'nia. 

laOGWoun.—HcBmatoxylon campe- 
chidnum. — A leguminous stove- 
shrub, which grows best in loam and 
peat, and is propagated by cuttings. 

London Pride. — Saocifraga um- 
brosa. — See Saxifra'ga. 

Loni'ceba. — CaprifoliacecB. —The 
upright or fly Honeysuckle. Great 
confusion exists in botanical works 
respecting the scientific names of the 
different kinds of Honeysuckle, Ge- 
nerally speaking, however, the climb- 
ing kinds are called Caprifolium, 
and the upright, erect shrubs, Loni- 
cera. The latter kind are all quite 
hardy, and will grow in any com- 
mon soil ; and they are propagat- 
ed by cuttings planted in the open 
ground in autumn. L. tatarica, the 
Tartarian honeysuckle, and L. wy- 
losteum, the common fly honeysuc- 
kle, are the commonest kinds. 

Loose Strife. — See Lysima^chta. 

Lope'zia. — Onagracece. — Annual 
and biennial plants, hardy, half-hardy, 
and tender ; but with light, feathery 
pink flowers, and pretty ball-like 
fruit, which is produced on long 
stalks, and is very ornamental. For 
the culture, see Annuals and Bien- 
nials. 

Lophospe'rmum. — Scrophulari- 



nece — Beautiful climbing-plants, with 
pink bell-shaped flowers, which grow 
luxuriantly in the open border, co- 
vering a trellis- work or a wall in an 
incredibly short space of time. As 
the plants are killed down to the 
ground in winter, cuttings should be 
taken off in autumn, and kept in a 
greenhouse or frame during winter to 
plant out in spring. The plants will 
grow in any common garden soil, pro- 
vided it is tolerably light, and that 
they have abundance of space for their 
roots. 

Loquat Tree. — See Ekiobothrya. 

Lora'nthus. — Loranthacece. — A 
kind of Miseltoe, generally found on 
the oak ; common in Germany, but 
not yet introduced into England. 

Lord Anson's Pea. — Ldthyrus 
Magelldnicus. — See Lathyrus. 

Lotus. — Leguminosce. — Birds'- 
foot Trefoil. Pea-flowered annual and 
perennial plants, generally with yel- 
low flowers, but sometimes with white 
or pink flowers, some of which are 
only half-hardy. They are all grown 
in sandy loam, and are generally 
propagated by seeds. 

Love Apple. — The Tomata. See 
Lycope'rsicum. 

Love lies Bleeding. — Amaran- 
thus caudatus. — See Amaranthus. 

LoVea. — The new name for Rosa 
berberidifblia. 

Lucu^lia. — Rubiacece. — L. gra- 
tississima is a remarkably fragrant 
plant, with large flowers, something 
like those of the Hydrangea. It ia 
grown in a greenhouse, in a mixture 
of light turfy loam and peat; and it is 
propagated by cuttings, which require 
bottom-heat. 

Luna v ria. — CrucifercB. — Ho- 
nesty. Hardy annual and perennial 
plants, which will grow in any com- 
mon garden soil, and only require the 
usual treatment of their respective 
kinds. See Annuals and Peren- 
nials. 



LYCIUM. 



172 



lfcope'rsicum. 



Lupine. — See Lupinus. 

Lupi'nus. — Leguminacece — The 
Lupine. A genus of herbaceous 
annuals and perennials which fur- 
nishes some of our most beautiful 
border flowers : yellow, blue, white, 
and pink Lupines, are among the 
oldest border annuals ; L. nanus is 
a beautiful little annual, with dark 
blue flowers, a native of California, 
and requiring the usual treatment of 
Californian annuals. L. mutdbilis 
and L. CruiksJidnkii are splendid 
plants, growing to the height of four 
or five feet, and branching like minia- 
ture trees; L. polyphyllus and its 
varieties are perennials, and they are 
splendid and vigorous growing plants, 
with spikes of flowers from one foot 
to eighteen inches in length; L. 
Nootkatensis is a handsome dwarf 
perennial, and L. arbor eus when 
trained against a wall will attain six 
feet in height, and in sheltered situa- 
tions it will grow with equal vigour 
trained as a bush tied to a stake ; 
L. latifolius is a perennial from 
California, with very long spikes of 
blue flowers. All the species will 
thrive in common garden soil ; the 
annuals are propagated by seeds sown 
in February or March, and the per- 
ennials by division of the root. 

Ly'chnis. — Silenacece, or Caro- 
phyllece. — Beautiful flowers nearly 
allied to the pinks ; some of which, 
such as the Ragged Robin, Lychnis 
Floscuculi, grow wild in the hedges 
in England. They are nearly all 
hardy, and may be grown in any 
common garden soil. 

Lycidm. — Solanacece. — Box- 
thorn. The species are mostly hardy 
shrubs with long slender shoots, 
which trail on the ground or ascend 
among the branches of larger shrubs 
or trees, according as they may be 
circumstanced. Lycium barbarum, 
the Duke of Argyle's Tea Tree, 
is one of the most vigorous growing 



hardy shrubs, producing when esta- 
blished a year in good soil shoots ten 
feet or twelve feet long ; L. euro- 
pee' urn is almost equally vigorous ; 
and L. Treivianum, in a warm 
sheltered situation, will grow to the 
height of twenty feet. Scarcely any 
shrub will cover a bower, or naked 
wall, or trellis fence in so short a 
time, and the fruit, which is of a 
coral colour, is ornamental as well as 
the flowers. The species mentioned 
have only one disadvantage, which is, 
that their roots run to a great dis- 
tance, and throw up numerous suck- 
ers ; and this peculiarity renders the 
plants unfit for small gardens, though 
well adapted for confined court-yards 
or narrow passages ; the side walls of 
which are to be covered with verdure. 
A single plant on a lawn trained with 
a stem to the height of ten or twelve 
feet, and then allowed to spread on 
every side over frame-work in the 
form of an umbrella, will not only 
cover this frame-work, but produce 
shoots which will hang down to 
the ground on every side, and thus 
form a complete curtain, which may 
be drawn aside like that of a window 
or bed, and will close again of itself 
on the spectator. These species are 
easily propagated by cuttings of the 
roots or shoots in any common soil 
rather dry than moist. L. afrum 
is a very beautiful species, with large 
violet-coloured flowers, but it requires 
the protection of a wall ; and L. Bo- 
erhaavicefolium, recently changed to 
Grabowskia, is remarkable for the 
singularity of its leaves, which are 
covered with a mealy whiteness ; it 
also requires the protection of a wall. 

Lycope'rsicum. — Solanacea. L. 
esculentum, Dun. {Solanum Lyco- 
persicum, Ton.) the Tomato or Love- 
apple, is generally grown for its fruit, 
which is eaten as a sauce, &c. It 
is, however, very ornamental when 
the fruit is ripe, from its large size and 



MACL X URA. 



173 



MAGNOLIA. 



brilliant colour. There are several 
kinds, varying in the size and the col- 
our of the fruit. Nearly all the kinds 
are annuals, which should be raised 
on a hotbed, and planted out in May 
against a wall or espalier railing, to 
which they should be trained ; they 
all require a rich soil, and abundance 
of sun and air to bring them to per- 
fection. 

Lycop x odium. — Cryptogamia Ly- 
copodinece.— Club-moss. A curious 
kind of moss, common in Europe and 
America, some of the kinds of which 
are very ornamental. L. helve 'ticum, 
which is very handsome, is generally 
grown in pots in green-houses. It 
should be grown in peat and loam, 
and allowed abundance of water. 

Lysimachia — Primulacece. — 
Loose- strife. Herbaceous plants with 
yellow flowers, chiefly perennials, and 
of which one species, L. nummula- 
ria, Money-wort, is a well-known 
ever-green trailer, which, when kept 



in a pot of moist soil will produce 
shoots of two or three feet in length, 
which hang down on every side. L. 
verticillatum is an upright growing 
plant, with abundance of showy yel- 
low flowers, which looks very well as 
a border flower in a large garden. 
They will grow in any common garden 
soil. 

Lythrum. — Lythracece. A genus 
of very ornamental hardy perennials, 
which grow in any common soil kept 
moist, and are propagated by division. 
L. salicaria is a native of Britain on 
the banks of rivers, and grows to the 
height of four feet ; L. diffusum 
grows to the height of one foot; and 
both these species produce their pur- 
ple flowers in July and August, when 
flowers are comparatively rarer than 
they are in June and September. L. 
virgatum grows three feet high, and 
produces its purple flowers from June 
to September. 

Lytt\ea. — See Litt^ea. 



M. 



Macl v ura. — Urticacece. The 
Osage orange. Handsome ever-green 
trees, with small shining yellowish 
green leaves, and many thorns. The 
flowers are white and rather small, 
but the fruit, which is as large as an 
orange, and of a brilliant golden yel- 
low, is very ornamental. These trees 
are as yet rare in British gardens, 
but they have borne fruit in the 
Jardin des Piantes in Paris. The 
male and female flowers are on differ- 
ent trees. It is supposed that the 
leaves of this plant will be equally 
good as those of the white mulberry 
for feeding silkworms, as they abound 
in a milky juice which is very tena- 
cious. The Madura succeeds better 
in rather a poor soil ; as where the 
soil is too rich, the plant makes shoots 
more luxuriant than it can ripen ; and 
thus the tops of the young wood are 
often killed by frost. 



Madder. — See Rubia. 

Madia. — Composites. — M. saliva 
is a weedy-looking plant, grown in 
Germany, for crushing its seeds to 
make oil. M. elegans (Madaria 
elegans, Dec.) is a coarse growing 
annual, with woolly leaves, and very 
pretty yellow flowers, which are 
brown in the centre. The seeds should 
be sown in the open air in February, 
or as soon as the weather will admit, 
in rich deep soil ; or in sheltered situa- 
tions, the seeds may be sown in 
autumn, and the young plants left to 
stand the winter. "When the plants 
begin to attain a considerable size, they 
should be staked and tied up, or they 
will have a very untidy and disagree- 
able appearance. The kind called 
M. splendens is only a variety of M. 
elegans. 

Magnolia. — Magnoliacece.— This 
is a genus of singrlarly ornamental 



MAGNO LIA. 



174 



MAGNOLIA. 



trees, mostly of small size, and some 
of them shrubs. M. grandiflora, 
the ever-green Magnolia, the most 
desirable variety of which is M. g. 
exoniensis, is a well-known highly 
prized tree, generally planted against a 
wall. Though it will only flower 
freely in favourable situations, yet it 
is very hardy, not having been killed 
anywhere by the severe winter of 
1837-8. In every villa, whatever 
may be its extent, one or two 
plants of this Magnolia ought to be 
placed against the house, or on a con- 
servative wall. It requires a loamy 
soil, rather rich ; but it will grow still 
better in peat, and it requires no at- 
tention but training the branches, and 
nailing them against the wall. It pro- 
duces its large flowers, which are from 
six inches to a foot in diameter when 
fully expanded, from August to Oc- 
tober. M. g. prcecox is a compara- 
tively rare variety, with broader 
leaves than M. g. exoniensis, and 
still larger flowers, and they appear in 
July and sometimes in June. In pur- 
chasing both species in the nurseries, 
care should be taken to select plants 
which have been raised from layers ; 
as seedlings, which are now sometimes 
imported from France, are often ten 
or fifteen years before they come into 
flower : whereas the others will flower 
the first or second year. M. conspi- 
cua is a deciduous tree, which pro- 
duces abundance of white flowers 
about the size of lilies, in .April 
and May, and sometimes even in 
March. It is quite hardy, but as its 
flowers appear so early, they are liable 
to be injured by spring frosts ; they 
also appear before the leaves, and for 
these reasons the tree should be 
planted against a wall, and if pos- 
sible near M. grandiflora, and the 
branches of the two intermingled, in 
which situation, it produces a splendid 
effect. It never grows out of bounds, 
and therefore requires no pruning. It 



will thrive quite well as a standard in 
any common soil, and planted among 
evergreens in sheltered situationsforms 
a splendid object when in flower. M, 
c. Soulangiana is a hybrid between 
this species and M . purpurea, equal- 
ly splendid in its flowers ; and this 
hybrid, M. conspicua and M. gran- 
diflora, ought never to be omitted in 
any garden whether small or large. 
M. purpurea is a shrub which will 
thrive in the open border, but it flowers 
best against a wall, and no plant is 
better deserving a place there. M. 
acuminata, with bluish flowers, and 
M. cor data with yellowish ones, are 
as hardy as most flowering trees, and 
the former will attain the height of 
thirty or forty feet in fifteen or twenty 
years ; both deserve a place as stand- 
ards. M. auriculdta is a beautiful 
hardy tree with mahogany- colour- 
ed bark and smooth shining leaves 
with reddish veins, it ought also to 
have a place in every collection of 
trees. The flowers of this and of the 
two preceding sorts are not fragrant 
like those of M. grandiflora and 
M. conspicua. M. tripetala has 
leaves so large, that in America 
it is called the umbrella-tree ; the 
flowers are white and fragrant. It 
requires a peat soil kept moist, and 
forms a splendid object on a lawn. 
M. macro phylla is a comparatively 
rare species with white flowers, the 
petals of which have a purple spot at 
the base, and the leaves are of an 
enormous size. It thrives best in this 
country in deep sand. M. fuscata 
is a greenhouse shrub with brown 
coloured flowers delightfully fragrant ; 
which well deserves a place in every 
conservatory, and which, in very warm 
situations, will live through the win- 
ter against a conservative wall. In 
general, the Magnolias may be desig- 
nated the aristocratic trees of a gar- 
den,, whether we regard the large size 
and fragrance of their flowers, or the 



maleshe'rbia. 175 mammillarla. 



length and breadth of their enormous 
leaves. The bark and wood of all of 
them are fragrant, and may be used as 
a substitute for those of the Cin- 
chona. 

Mahaleb The Mahaleb Plum or 

Cherry. — See Cerasus. 

MahVnia — Berberidece.— The Ash 
Berberry. Very handsome evergreen 
shrubs, with pinnate leaves, and bear- 
ing abundance of brilliant yellow 
flowers, which are succeeded by black 
berries. All the kinds grow freely, 
and are very ornamental, but M. 
Aquifolium, the leaflets of which 
somewhat resemble the leaves of the 
holly, is by far the handsomest and 
hardiest species. They will grow in 
any common garden soil, and are in- 
creased by layers. M. fascicularis 
and M. repens are rather tender, and 
should have some slight protection 
during severe frosts. 

Maiden-hair. — See Adiantum. 

Malachodendron. — Ternstros- 
miacece. — A handsome bushy shrub, 
which may be trained as a low tree, 
with large white flowers. It should 
be grown in sandy peat, and it is pro- 
pagated by layers or cuttings, the lat- 
ter of which, however, require sand, 
a bell glass, and bottom heat, to make 
them strike root. 

Malcomia. — Cruciferce. — The 
Virginian Stock. A pretty little an- 
nual which only requires to have its 
seeds sown at almost any season to 
grow, and to flower abundantly. As 
nearly all the seeds are sure to come 
up, it may be sown as an edging plant 
instead of box or thrift ; and in fact 
it is often used for this purpose in 
cottage gardens. 

Male Fern. — Asplenium Felix- 
mas. — A very handsome species of 
fern for growing in shrubberies. 

Maleshe'rbia. — Malesherbiacece 
— A very pretty Chilian half-hardy 
annual, with blue flowers, the seeds 
^f which should be sown on a hot-bed 



in February, and the young plants 
planted out in May. 

Mallow. — See Malva. 

Ma'lope . — Malvacece. — Annual 
plants with very handsome flowers. 
M. trifida, of which there are two 
kinds, one with crimson and the other 
with white flowers, is rather dwarf ; 
but M. grandiflora will grow four 
or five feet high in a good soil and an 
open situation, bearing very large and 
showy brilliant crimson flowers. All 
the kinds are quite hardy, and only 
require sowing in March or April in 
the open border, and thinning out and 
transplanting when the young plants 
are three or four inches high. 

Malpighia.— Malpighiacece.-- The 
Barbadoes Cherry. A stove trailer, 
a native of the West Indies, which 
requires a stove in England. It 
should be grown in a light loamy soil, 
and it is propagated by cuttings of the 
ripened wood. 

Malva. — Malvacece. — The Mal- 
low. A great number of different 
species are grown in British gar- 
dens, tender, half-hardy, and hardy 
perennials and annuals. They are 
all of the easiest culture according to 
their respective kinds ; and the hardy 
species may be grown in any soil and 
situation. 

Mammillaria. — Cactacece. — Suc- 
culent plants, with almost globular 
stems covered with prickles, but with- 
out leaves ; the flowers growing out 
of the stem without any stalk. These 
plants are natives of the high table- 
land of Mexico, where they are subject 
to very few variations of temperature ; 
and they should therefore be kept in 
greenhouse heat all the year in Eng- 
land. In their native country they 
grow in rich loam, and therefore re- 
quire a better soil in this country 
than the uifferent kinds of Cereus 
and Echinocactus, which grow among 
calcareous rocks, in the mould formed 
by the deposition of vegetable matter 



MANETTIA. 



176 



MANURES. 



in the fissures. By attending to these I 
particulars the Maminillarias may be 
easily grown in any situations where 
they can be kept free from frost. 
"When grown in a room, they should 
be allowed as much air as possible ; 
and the dust which lodges among their 
spines should be frequently blown off 
with a small pair of bellows, but the 
plants themselves should never be 
watered overhead. 

Manchineel. — See Hippomane. 

Mandragora. — Solanacece. — M. 
autumnalis Spr. (Atrbpa Man- 
dragora L.), the common Man- 
drake, is a perennial plant, with pur- 
ple flowers, resembling those of the 
Alkegengi, or Kite-flower, respecting 
which many fabulous stories have 
been told, all of which have no other 
foundation than a supposed resem- 
blance between the roots of the man- 
drake and the figure of a man. There 
are several species of Mandragora, 
some of which have white flowers, 
and others yellow : and they are all 
more or less poisonous, being nearly 
allied to the Deadly Nightshade, and 
having the same stupifving qualities. 
They grow best in calcareous, or a 
sandy soil. 

Mandrake. — See Mandragora. 

Manettia. — Rubiacece. — Climb- 
ing plants, some of which require a 
stove in England ; though one species, 
M. cordifolia Hook. (M. glabra 
Dec), which has very handsome bright 
scarlet tube-like flowers, is generally 
grown in a greenhouse. It is a native 
of Buenos Ayres, whence it was intro- 
duced in 1831, and, like many plants 
from that country, it will very pro- 
bably stand the summer in the open 
border in England. It should be 
grown in a mixture of sandy peat and 
loam ; and when kept in a pot, it 
should be allowed plenty of room for 
its roots, and abundance of fresh air 
as often as possible. It is propagated 
by cuttings, which must be struck in 
sand, with bottom heat. 



Mangi'fera. — Terebinthaceee. — 
The Mango Tree. A native of both 
the East and the West Indies, with 
white flowers, which requires a stove 
in England. The fruit is said to be 
of remarkably fine flavour in its native 
country. The plant in England 
should be grown in very sandy loam, 
and the pots well drained, as it is 
very apt to damp off. 

Mango Tree. — See Mangifera. 
Mangosteen. — Garc'mia Man- 
gostana. — This celebrated fruit, 
which is so highly spoken of by tra- 
vellers in Java, &c, belongs to the 
same genus as the Gamboge tree, and 
both require a stove in England. 
They are, however, very seldom 
grown in this country. 

Mangrove. — Rhizophora Man- 
gle ; a tree a native of the East In- 
dies, and some parts of Africa, grow- 
ing in marshy places, and seldom 
found in England. 

Ma'nihot. — See Ja'tropha. 
Mantisia. — Scitaminea. — M. 
Saltatoria, the Opera Girls, is a plant, 
the flowers of which appear before the 
leaves, and which really look some- 
thing like dancing figures fantasti- 
cally dressed. The plant requires a 
stove in England, and it should be 
grown in a mixture of turfy loam, 
peat, and sand, kept rather moist, but 
well drained. It is increased by 
dividing the root. 

Manures, in Floriculture, are little 
wanted, and in general leaf-mould, or 
hotbed dung, or any kind of ferment- 
able material, consisting chiefly of 
vegetable matter, is to be preferred. 
See Leaf Mould. Thoroughly de- 
composed stable-dung is produced by 
turning it over every three or four 
weeks in summer, when fermentation 
is active, or three or four times in 
winter, when it is more slow ; and in 
either case it is fit for use when it can 
be passed through a coarse sieve. It 
is to be mixed with the soil in propor- 
tions dependent on the nature of the 



MARSH PLANTS. 1 



77 MARTAGON LILY. 



plant to be cultivated. In general, 
rapid-growing plants, such as bulbs of 
every kind, require the roughly-de- 
composed manure ; but strong vigor- 
ous plants which grow all the sum- 
mer, such as Dicotyledonous annuals 
and perennials, may be manured with 
materials in a less decomposed state. 
All manures should be preserved in 
compact masses, so as to present as 
small a surface to the action of the 
atmosphere as possible, and a shaded 
situation is consequently preferable to 
one exposed to the free action of the 
sun and air. 

Mara'nta C&nnece. — The In- 
dian Arrow-root. Stove plants, with 
tuberous roots and small white 
flowers. The Indian arrow-root 
is made from the tubers. 

Mare's-tail. — See Hippu v ris. 

Ma'rica. — Iridece. — Fibrous root- 
ed plants, with very ornamental 
flowers, greatly resembling those of 
the Cape bulbs. Natives of Africa, 
some of which require a stove and 
others a greenhouse in England. For 
culture see Amaryllis. 

Marigold. — See Calendula. 

Marjoram. — See Origanum. 

Marrubium. — Labiatce. — Hore- 
hound. The species should be gi own 
in light rich soil ; and they are in- 
creased by dividing the roots. 

Marsh Mallow. — See Altrea. 

Marsh Marigold Calthapalus- 

tris. — A British marsh or aquatic 
plant, sometimes introduced in ponds, 
and other artificial pieces of water, in 
garden scenery, to give them a natu- 
ral appearance, or to hide their ter- 
mination. The plants only require 
to be planted in the muddy banks of 
the water, if it be a pond ; but if it 
be a river, they should have a stone or 
two laid on their roots to prevent 
them from being washed away by the 
stream. 

Marsh Plants are of different 
kinds : those whieh grow in common 



soil, saturated with moisture through- 
out the year; those which grow in 
soil saturated or covered with water 
during winter and spring ; and those 
which grow in peat-bogs. A few of 
them are ornamental ; such as Meny- 
dnthes trifolidta and Comdrum pa- 
lustre, which are proper Marsh Plants; 
Damasbnium vulgare, and Ranun- 
culus lingua and Jlammula, which 
grow in soils sometimes dry during 
summer ; and Parnassia palustris, 
which grows in peat-bogs and springy- 
soils. In gardens, bogs are easily 
imitated, by placing the soil in pots, or 
sunk boxes, with retentive bottoms 
and sides so as to retain water. 
Where there is an aquarium, or pond 
for plants, it is very common to have 
it surrounded with a border or margin 
of soil raised a few inches above the 
level of the water in the pond, and 
which is kept moist by the exudation 
of the water. To prevent the exuda- 
tion from extending further than the 
border, the bottom and the outer 
margin are formed of masonry lined 
with clay. A very common mode 
and one of the best is, to place the 
plants in pots or tubs, and set these 
on supports in the water, so that the 
bottom of the pot or tub may be only 
a few inches covered by it. In this 
way the soil about the plant is kept 
sufficiently moist without the risk of 
any excess. Among Marsh Plants 
may be reckoned the different kinds of 
Sedge, some of which are very orna- 
mental (see Ca\rex) ; the Buck- 
bean (see Menya'nthes) ; Hottbnia 
palustris ; the Sweet-scented Rush 
(Acorus calamus) ; the Forget-me- 
not (Myosbtis palustris) ; the 
Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre); 
and many others. 

Martagon Lily. — Those lilies 
which have the segments of the 
perianth so completely turned back, 
as to form no bad representation of a 
Turk's cap. In the midland counties 



maura'ndia. 



178 



MAXILLARIA. 



these flowers are called Turn-again- 
gentlemen. For their culture see 
Lilium. 

Martynia. — Pedalinece. Half 
hardy annuals, with, very oily seeds, 
which require to be raised on a hot- 
bed, but which may be planted out in 
May. 

Marvel of Peru. — See Mirabilis. 

Mastic Tree. A kind of Pista- 
cia tree, producing the gum mastic. 

Mathiola. — Cruciferce The 

Ten -week Stock is an annual which 
should be raised on a hotbed, and 
transplanted into a very rich sandy 
loam in May. The remains of celery 
trenches which have been grown in a 
sandy or calcareous loam form the 
best soil for Stocks of all kinds ; but 
where this kind of soil cannot be ob- 
tained, sand or chalk, enriched with 
vegetable mould, will do extremely 
well. The finest Stocks I ever saw 
were in a garden at Greenhithe, the 
soil of which was chalk, and in Mrs. 
Humphrey's garden at Shenstone, the 
soil of which was a loamy sand ; and 
though both these were biennial 
Stocks, the same soil would have 
grown the annual ones equally well. 
Some of the finest Stocks in British 
gardens are from seed raised in Ger- 
many and Russia ; and the plants 
raised from this seed are called Ger- 
man and Russian Stocks. For the 
culture of the biennial species, see 
Brompton Stocks. 

Maura'ndia. — Scrophularinece. 
Elegant climbing plants, with beauti- 
ful dark-blue or purple flowers, which 
are rather tender, and are generally 
killed in winter, if planted in the 
open ground. They do not require 
much room for their roots ; and gene- 
rally flower best in a pot, as their 
roots are so weak and delicate as 
easily to be killed by having coarse- 
growing plants near them. M. Bar- 
clay ana thrives best in a pot with 
wires fixed iu the rim for it to run 



over (see fig. 22 ); and thus treated, 
it forms an extremely beautiful object 
in a balcony garden. All the Mauran- 



Fig. 22. 




dias should be grown in the light rich 
soil ; and they are increased by seeds 
or cuttings. 

MAXiLiAM\.~Orchidace(B.~Avery 
extensive genus of Epiphytes, some of 
which have their flowers hanging 
down from the roots, and are grown 
in baskets of moss, the husks of cocoa- 
nuts, or on pieces of wood with the 
bark on, or hung by wires to the rafters 
of the damp stove or orchideous house. 
Some of the species have upright 



MELALEUCA. 



179 



MELIANTHUS, 



flower-stems, and are grown in pots 
in brick rubbish, mixed with sand or 
heath-mould, and a little loam. Most 
of the kinds are handsome, and some 
have splendid flowers. 

May Apple. See Podophyllum. 
Maytknus. — Celastrinece. • — An. 
evergreen shrub, a native of Chili, 
with yellowish flowers, which are pro- 
duced in great abundance in May. It 
is nearly hardy, and only requires a 
slight protection during severe frosts. 

Mecono'psis. — Papaveraceos. The 
new name for the Welsh Poppy, Pa- 
paver cambrica L. This plant, which 
has yellow flowers, is a native of moun- 
tainous places in Wales; audit is of 
easy culture in any soil which is 
poor rather than rich. 

Medica v go.~ LeguminoscB. Weedy- 
looking plants, with yellow pea- 
flowers, which are generally single or 
in small clusters. The seed-pods of 
many of the species are very curious, 
some resembling snails, others hedge- 
hogs, and others beehives. In old 
seed catalogues these names are all 
found enumerated ; but they are 
emitted in those of the present date, 
as the plants to which they belong are 
found not worth growing. 

Melaleuca. — Myrtacece.-- Austra- 
lian shrubs, with very singular tassel- 
like flowers, which the first settlers in 
New Holland called the tea trees, 
and which are nearly allied to Metro- 
sideros. One species, M.nefeifolia, 
which has yellow flowers with petals, 
has been removed to the genus Trista- 
nia ; M. Cajuputi, from which the 
Cajeput oil is made, and M. Leuca- 
dendron, the black and white tree, 
are natives of the East Indies, and 
require a stove in England, but all 
the Australian species are green-house 
plants. One of the handsomest of 
these, M.fulgens, has its flowers in a 
long spike, which looks like a bottle- 
brush. All the kinds should be 
grown in a compost of sand, loam, 



and peat ; and they are all propa- 
gated by cuttings. 

Mela'nthium. — Melanthacece. — 
Pretty little plants with bulbous roots 
and blackish flowers, mostly natives 
of the Cape of Good Hope, and 
requiring the usual treatment of Cape 
bulbs. 

Melastoma. - - M elastomacece. Very 
handsome stove shrubs, with large 
showy flowers. The leaves are also 
large and strongly ribbed. The fruit 
is eatable, and filled with a black 
pulp ; whence the name of Melas- 
toma, or Black-mouth, is said to be 
given to it, because it stains the 
mouths of those who eat it. All the 
species are natives of Ceylon and 
other parts of the East Indies ; and 
they all require to be grown in 
peat, and kept rather dry during 
winter. 

Melia. — MeliaceoB. — The Bead 
Tree. M, Azedarach, the common 
Bead Tree, is a half-hardy shrub, or 
low tree, with lilac flowers and yellow 
berries, the pulp of which is poison- 
ous ; but the hard stone in the centre 
is used to make rosaries. There is 
another species, M. semper vir ens, 
which is a native of the West Indies, 
where it is called the Indian Lilac, or 
Pride of India. Both kinds are 
generally kept in the stove in En- 
gland, where they will ripen their 
seeds; but the first kind does very 
well against a conservative wall, and 
it has flowered in the open air at 
Bayswater, and other places. It will 
grow best in loam and peat, and it is 
propagated by cuttings. 

Melianthus. — Rutacece. — The 
Honey-flower. A half-shrubby green- 
house plant, with bluish green, or 
rather grey, leaves, sometimes called 
Sicilian Ragwort. If planted in the 
open air, and slightly protected from 
frost, it will grow ten feet high, and 
produce its large spikes of brownish 
red flowers abundantly. It is a 

K 2 



menispe'rmum. 



180 



mesembrya'nthemum. 



native of the Cape of Good Hope. It 
should be grown in light rich soil, if 
it be wanted to attain a large size ; or 
in sand, mixed with a little loam and 
lime rubbish, if it be wanted to flower 
while yet of a small 6ize. It looks 
very well trained against a south wall. 

Meli'ssa. — Labiatce. — The Balm. 
None of the species are particularly 
ornamental, but they are worth grow- 
ing for the fragrance of their leaves. 
They are all hardy perennials, which 
will grow in any soil or situation, and 
which are propagated by dividing the 
roots. 

Meloca'ctus. — CactacecB The 

Melon Thistle. All these plants have 
a sort of crown of cottony substance, 
which sometimes grows to an enor- 
mous size. The flowers are generally 
red, and are produced around this 
crown. They are natives of the hot- 
test part of the tropics, and should 
be kept in a dry stove in England. 
They should be grown in a little sandy 
loam, mixed with two-thirds of lime 
rubbish ; and the pots in which they 
grow must be well drained with cin- 
ders, as they are very liable to damp 
off or rot, if any stagnant water be 
suffered to remain about the roots. 
They are very much improved by 
plunging the pots in which they grow 
into tan, and thus affording the plants 
bottom heat. 

Melon Thistle. See Meloca'ctus. 

Menispe'rmum. — Menispermh- 
ceae. — Handsome climbing shrubs, 
natives of Europe and North America, 
■with curiously-shaped leaves, racemes 
of yellowish or greenish white flowers, 
and red or black berries, which have 
somewhat of an intoxicating quality. 
M. canadense, which is the com- 
monest species, is a hardy free-growing 
climber, admirably adapted for cover- 
ing a wall or arbour in a very short 
time, and in a very ornamental man- 
ner. It i9 well deserving of general 
cultivation, and yet it is comparatively 



little known ; perhaps on account of 
the modest colour of its elegant 
little drooping racemes of flowers, 
which are generally hidden from 
common observers by the leaves. Its- 
English name of Moonseed is derived 
from the shape of the seed, which 
resembles a crescent or half-moon. 
It will grow in any soil or situation ; 
and it looks very well on a lawn 
trained up a single pole, and with 
the extremity of its branches left to 
spread themselves to the wind at 
pleasure. It also looks very well 
trained to form a pillar, or to a frame 
with an umbrella top, &c. 

Menya'nthes. — Gentianece. The 
Buck-bean. The European kinds 
have white flowers, but some of the 
exotic species, now called Villarsia, 
which are natives of Australia and 
the Cape, are very handsome, with 
very showy yellow flowers. They 
are all marsh plants, and should be 
sown or planted in the mud or soft 
ground left by the water. Some of 
the kinds are only half-hardy. 

Menzi'esia. — Ericacece. — Little 
heath-like plants, formerly included 
in the genus Erica, natives of Europe 
and North America. The common- 
est kind, (M. polifoUa) St. Da- 
boec's heath, is found wild in Ireland. 
The flowers are larger and more glo- 
bular than those of the common 
heaths, and much handsomer. They 
are quite hardy, and only require to 
be grown in sandy peat, or heath - 
mould. 

Meadow Saffron. — See Colchicum. 

Mesembrya'nthemum. — Ficoida- 
cece. — The name of Mesembryanthe- 
mum is derived from mesembria, 
mid-day, and anthos, a flower ; and 
this name admirably expresses the 
habit of the plants, their flowers only 
expanding in the brightest sunshine. 
The English name of Fig Marigold 
alludes to the fruit, which is shaped 
like a fig, and which is eaten by the 



mesembrya'nthemum. 



181 



METROSIDE v ROS. 



Hottentots ; and to the flowev, which 
resembles that of a marigold in shape, 
and sometimes in colour. There are 
two kinds of Mesembryanthemum 
which are called the Ice-plant — viz., 
M. glaeiale, and M. crystallinum, 
the former being an annual, and the 
latter a biennial — and they take their 
English name from the little globular 
protuberances, or rather blister's (which 
botanists call papulae), filled with a 
soft watery matter, which glisten over 
the whole of the plants, and make 
them look as though they were co- 
vered with ice. The flowers of these 
plants are white ; but there are other 
Mesembryanthemums AVith pink or 
purple flowers, and those of the com- 
monest and hardiest kind, M. pome- 
ridianum, are of a brilliant yellow. 
This kind is an annual, the seeds of 
which should be sown on a hotbed, 
and the young plants transferred to 
the open ground in May ; and they 
should be always planted out into the 
open border, as they never flower well 
in a pot. The perennial kinds may be 
grown either in pots, or in the open 
ground ; but in the latter case they 
should either be taken up or carefully 
protected during winter, as they are 
killed by the slightest frost. They 
should be grown in sandy or gravelly 
soil, which, for the larger-growing 
species, may be mixed with a little 
loam : but even of these, the poorer 
and more sandy the soil, the more 
brilliant will be the colours of the 
flowers, though the leaves and stems 
will become small and weak. All 
the species should be kept quite dry 
when in a dormant state, and abund- 
antly supplied with water when they 
are about to flower ; and all the per- 
ennial kinds are propagated by cut- 
tings, which should be kept quite dry 
for several days after they are put 
into the ground, till they begin to 
wither, when they should be supplied 
with a little water, and they will di- 



reetly begin to throw out roots. The 
pots in which these plants are grown 
should be well drained with cinders ; 
and when planted out in the open 
air, it should be on a dry, open, sunny 
bank. 

Me'spilus. — Rosacea. — This is 
one of those genera which have been 
dismantled, and almost annihilated, 
by modern botanists. A few years 
ago, and almost all the flowering- 
shrubs and low trees, included in the 
order Rosacea;, were referred to Mes- 
pilus. All the Cratseguses, a great 
number of the Pyruses, the Aronias, 
Amelanchier, Eriobotrya, and many 
other allied genera, were all consi- 
dered to belong to Mespilus. Now, 
however, the genus Mespilus is con- 
fined to the two kinds of Medlars ; 
and even of these, M . grandiflbra 
seems rather doubtful. Mespilus 
Germdnica, the common Medlar, 
and its varieties, are now, therefore, 
the sole support of this once extensive 
genus ; and they are not only trees 
of considerable size, but trees that, 
notwithstanding their large white 
blossoms, are too coarse-growing to 
be called ornamental. 

Metroside v ros. — Myrtaceee. — 
Australian and Cape shrubs, with 
tassel-like flowers, nearly allied to 
Melaleuca. One species, (3f. ve- 
nts) the Iron wood, is a tree, and a 
native of the East Indies. The most 
beautiful of the Australian shrubs 
formerly considered as belonging to 
this genus, are now removed to the 
genus Callistemon ; and these have 
generally crimson flowers. The re- 
maining species are generally kept in 
a greenhouse in England, but they 
may be grown in the open air, if they 
are slightly protected during winter ; 
and in sheltered situations they will 
indeed often stand several years with- 
out any protection whatever. They 
should be grown in a mixture of sandy 
loam and peat, but any common gar- 



MIGNIONETTE. 



182 



MIGNIONETTE. 



den soil will do ; and when grown in 
the open air, they should be trained 
against a wall. They are propagated 
by cuttings of the ripened wood, 
which cannot be struck without the 
help of sand, bottom-heat, and a bell- 
glass. 

Mignionette. — Reseda odorata. 
— This well-known plant is generally 
considered as an annual, and sown 
every year as such ; but it is, in fact, 
a shrub, and if preserved carefully 
through the winter, in two or three 
years its stem will become quite woody. 
In this state it is called the tree Mig- 
nionette, and is supposed by many to 
be a different species. It is a native 
of Barbary, and grows wild on the 
sandy shore of Algiers. The name of 
Mignionette, which is French for 
" the little darling " is supposed to 
have been given to it on account of 
its seeds having been first sent to 
England from Paris. It is rather 
singular, however, that it should be 
known by a French name in Eng- 
land, while in France it is called by 
its Latin name of Reseda. 

Mignionette should always be sown 
in light, sandy soil, if possible ; as, 
when grown in a rich loam, it loses 
its fragrance. With a little manage- 
ment, it may be contrived to have 
Mignionette in flower every month dur- 
ing the year without the aid of either 
a regular gardener or a hothouse. In 
order that the plants may flower in 
winter, the seed should be sown in 
the open border in July. Or, if it be 
more convenient, the seeds may be 
sown in pots in that month, placing 
the pots in a balcony, outside a win- 
dow, or in any situation where they 
will have abundance of light and air. 
In September, the plants should be 
removed to the pots in which they 
are to flower, and only a sufficient 
number left in each to make the pots 
look full without the plants being so 
crowded as to occasion them to be 



drawn up. This number must, of 
course, vary according to the size of 
the pot ; but it should never exceed 
eight, or be less than three. The 
pots should then be taken into the 
house, and placed in any convenient 
situation in a room without afire, till 
they have formed their blossom-buds, 
which will be the latter end of Octo- 
ber, when they should be removed to 
a window in a room where there is a 
fire ; when they will throw out abun- 
dance of branches, and will continue 
flowering beautifully during Novem- 
ber, December, and January ; and, if 
they are regularly watered every day, 
till the following March. The seeds 
of the plants which are to come into 
flower in March to succeed them, 
should be sown in pots at the latter 
end of August, and the pots may be 
placed in a spare bedroom, or in any 
open shed, or other situation under 
cover, where they will have plenty of 
light, and can have air occasionally. 
Early in November they should be 
thinned out, or transplanted, so as to 
leave only six or eight plants in a pot, 
and these pots should be plunged into 
a shallow box or packing-case, half 
filled with coal-ashes, and placed in a 
cellar, or back kitchen, or, in short, 
any place where they will not have 
much heat, and yet be protected from 
frost. While in this situation, they 
should be regularly watered once or 
twice a week ; and as no light is bet- 
ter than only a little, they may be 
covered with a piece of old carpeting, 
or an old ironing-blanket, supported 
by a few sticks stuck in the earth, so 
as to prevent it from crushing the 
plants by its weight. In this situ- 
ation, though they will become quite 
blanched, they will grow freely, and 
be well-shaped plants ; while, on the 
contrary, if they had not been co- 
vered, as they could not be put in a 
window on account of the danger 
from frost, they would have become 



MIGNIONETTE. 



183 



MILDEW. 



etiolated, or drawn up, with weak, 
ill-shaped stems, in the efforts they 
would have made to reach the light. 
Besides, the blanket will save them 
from being injured by frost. About 
a fortnight before they are wanted to 
flower, the blanket may be taken off, 
and the box removed to the window 
of the kitchen, or some place where 
there is a constant fire; when the 
plants will soon become quite green, 
and will form their flower-buds. The 
pots may then be taken out of their 
box, and removed to the room where 
they are to flower, having been first 
put into other pots, somewhat larger 
than themselves, and the interstices be- 
tween the two being stuffed with moss, 
which may also be laid on the surface 
of the earth in the inner pot ; or if 
moss cannot easily be obtained, double 
pots will suffice, the outer one being 
only just large enough to admit the 
inner one. A third crop may be 
sown in February, in pots, which may 
be kept under shelter till all danger 
is over from frost, and which may be 
then set out on window-sills, or in 
any other situation in the open air, 
and which will flower in May, June, 
and July, continuing in flower till 
they are succeeded by a fourth crop 
sown in April, in the open ground, 
or in pots in the open air, which will 
come into flower in July, and conti- 
nue till November. 

When it is wished to obtain a plant 
of tree mignionette, a healthy vigo- 
rous plant of mignionette sown in 
April, should be placed at the proper 
time for transplanting, in a pot by 
itself, and the blossom buds should 
be taken off as fast as they appear. 
In autumn, all the lower side shoots 
should be cut off, so as to shape the 
plant into a miniature tree, and it 
should be transplanted into a larger 
pot, with fresh soil, formed of turfy 
loam broken small, but not sifted, 
and sand. It should then be re- 



moved to a green-house, or warm 
room, and by being regularly watered 
every day, and kept tolerably warm, 
it will remain in a growing state all 
the winter, and by spring its stem will 
begin to appear woody. It should be 
treated in the same manner the fol- 
lowing year, all the side branches 
being cut off as they appear, except 
those that are to form the head of the 
tree ; and by the third spring it will 
have bark on its trunk, and be com- 
pletely a shrub. It may now be suf- 
fered to flower, and its blossoms, 
which will be delightfully fragrant, 
will continue to be produced every 
summer, for a great many years in 
succession. 

Many persons save their own seed 
of the common mignionette, but it is 
hardly worth while to do so ; as it is 
generally both good and cheap in the 
seed-shops. 

Mildew. — Rose-trees and many 
other plants are very apt to be af- 
fected in autumn, with a white or 
brownish appearance on the leaves, 
which is sometimes called the blight, 
but more properly rust or mildew. 
The cause of this appearance was 
long unknown ; and some supposed it 
to be produced by unhealthy winds, 
and others that it was the work of 
insects ; it is now however satisfac- 
torily proved to be a parasitic plant 
or fungus growing on the leaves, as 
lichens and other fungi grow on the 
bark. 

The parasitic fungi known by the 
general name of mildew are of three 
kinds : viz., those that grow on the 
surface of the leaf, those which form 
under the epidermis or outer skin, 
and those that attack the root. The 
first kind may sometimes be removed 
by abundant watering ; which not 
only gives vigour to the plant, but 
actually tends to loosen the hold the 
fungus has taken of the leaves ; but 
the second kind can only be stopped 



milt'onia. 



184 



MI MULUS. 



in its career by the removal and 
burning of all the infected leaves ; 
and the third generally occasions the 
death of the plant. The different 
kinds of Uredo (from uro, to burn or 
scorch), -which looks as though the 
under side of the leaves were covered 
over -with a brown powder ; and the 
different kinds of iEcidium which 
rise like pimples over the leaves, 
and burst when ripe, are the most 
destructive. The smut which attacks 
the corn crops belongs to the first of 
these genera, and the barberry mil- 
dew to the last. The root mildew 
generally attacks bulbs ; and when 
the crocus is cultivated for saffron, 
sometimes the entire crop is thus de- 
stroyed. Many remedies for mildew 
have been recommended, but none 
can be depended on ; and the best 
means of preventing its appearance, 
seems to be keeping the plants in a 
state of vigorous growth ; as it is ge- 
nerally found only on such plants as 
do not appear to have had sufficient 
strength to resist its attacks. 
Milfoil. — See Achille n a. 
Milkvetch. — See Astra'galus. 
Milkwort. — See Poly^galaj 
Mi'lla. — Asphodelece. — A Mexi- 
can plant, with flowers of the most 
brilliant and purest white, which 
continue expanded day and night, 
till they fade ; instead of closing at 
night, as is usual with plants of the 
same family. They will grow in any 
common soil, and only require a 
slight protection from frost, such as 
covering with dead leaves &c. during 
winter. 

Milt v onia. — Orchidacece. — A 
very beautiful epiphyte from Brazil, 
with its flowers on erect stems, like 
those of the Cattleya, which this 
plant somewhat resembles. Though 
an epiphyte, it is generally grown in 
England, in a pot, in loam mixed with 
sand and rubbish, and it requires the 
same treatment as other orchideous 



epiphytal plants, which will bear 
being grown in pots. 

Mim\>sa. — Leguminosce — To 
this genus belongs the Sensitive plant, 
of which there may be said to be 
three species, the leaves of all of 
which shrink to the touch, viz., M. 
sensittva, a native of Brazil, growing 
about one foot high, with pale ball- 
like pink flowers, M. pudica, a na- 
tive of Brazil, growing about one 
foot high with white flowers, and M. 
casta, a native of the East Indies, 
growing about two feet high, with 
pale yellow flowers. M. pudica is 
the sensitive plant most culti- 
vated in green-houses ; though M.- 
sensiliva is also very generally cul- 
tivated; the former however is a 
shrub, and the latter an annual or 
biennial. Both may be raised on a 
hotbed in spring, with the tender 
annuals ; and either kept in pots 
throughout the summer, or turned 
out into the open border about the 
end of May. Many species formerly 
included under the genus Mimosa, 
are now removed to Acacia ; the 
principal distinction between the ge- 
nera, being that Mimosa has a jointed 
seed-pod, which Acacia has not. 
Several other genera have also been 
formed out of Mimosa. Some of 
the kinds are stove plants; others 
thrive in a green-house ; and M. 
marginata Dec, the M. prostrata 
of the nurseries, is sufficiently hardy 
to stand ordinary winters against a 
conservative wall. They should be 
all grown in a mixture of loam and 
peat ; and they are propagated by 
seeds or cuttings. 

Mi'mulus. — Scrophularinece. — 
The Monkey-flower. The first Mi- 
mulus introduced into Britain was 
M. Hngens in the time of Miller ; 
and M.glutinbsus, a shrubby species 
with orange flowers, was the second. 
Since then numerous species have 
have been introduced from North 



MOMO'RDICA. 185 MONKSHOOD. 



and South America, annuals and 
perennials, and one other shrub. All 
the herbaceous kinds of Mirnulus 
cross freely with each other, and thus 
a great numher of showy plants have 
been raised. They should all be 
grown in a compost of peat and loam, 
and supplied abundantly with water ; 
indeed when grown in pots, they 
should be kept constantly standing in 
saucers full of water. They are all 
very nearly hardy ; and M. rbseus, 
M. cardinalis, and M. moschata, 
will grow in the open air for several 
years without any protection, dying 
down to the ground in winter, and 
springing up and flowering abund- 
antly every spring. The shrubby 
kinds are now separated from the 
others, and formed into a new genus 
under the name of Diplacus. ( See 
Diplacus.) The name of Monkey- 
plant alludes to the seeds, which are 
marked so as to bear some resem- 
blance to the face of a monkey. 

Mira'bilis. — Nyctaginece. — The 
Marvel of Peru. These plants, though 
generally treated as annuals, have fu- 
siform tuberous roots, which may be 
taken up every year and replanted, 
like those of the Dahlia. They re- 
quire a rich soil. 

Mirabe v lia. — Leguminbsce. — An 
Australian shrub, with pretty pea- 
flowers ; which is generally kept in a 
greenhouse in British gardens. See 
Australian Shrubs. 

Mistletoe. — See Viscum. 

Moldavian Balm. — See Moluo 
cella. 

MoLuccE'LLA.--Z,afoa^<s.--A hardy 
annual, which only requires sowing in 
March or April in the open border, 
in any common garden soil. See 
Annuals. 

Moly. — A kind of garlic, with 
very pretty yellow flowers. See Al- 
lium. 

Momo'rdica. — Cucurbitacece. — 
The Squirting Cucumber. An an- 



nual gourd-like plant, with woolly 
leaves, and yellow flowers, the fruit of 
which resembles a small cucumber ; 
and which, when ripe, bursts the mo- 
ment it is touched, scattering its seeds, 
and the half liquid, pulpy matter in 
which they are contained, to a consi- 
derable distance. This quality made 
it a favourite in gardens a century 
ago, when some people were yet in a 
state of sufficient barbarism to find 
amusement in the annoyance of 
others ; but it has now deservedly 
fallen into disrepute, and is seldom 
grown. 

Monoca'nthus. — Orchidacece. — 
The Monk Flower. An orchideous 
epiphyte from Demarara and Brazil, 
requiring the usual treatment of simi- 
lar plants. See Orchidhous Epi- 
phytes. 

Mona'nthes. — Crassuldcets. — 
Mr. Haworth's name for Sempervi- 
vum Monanthes, a kind of house- 
leek with red flowers, from the Canary 
Isles. See Sempervivum. 

Mona'rda. — Labiates. — Hardy 
herbaceous plants, with showyflowers, 
natives of North America ; they grow 
best in a rich light soil, and they are 
increased by dividing the root. 

Money Wort.— Lysimdchia num- 
mularia. — A trailing plant, with 
yellow flowers, which should be 
grown in peat, or some other light 
soil, and kept moist. Its long trail- 
ing shoots look very well hanging 
over the sides of a rustic basket or 
vase, supported on a pedestal, or on 
rockwork ; and in such situations, if 
kept moist, they will flower abund- 
antly ; while the same plant removed 
into the shade, will not produce a 
single flower, and is easily killed if 
watering be neglected. 

Monkey Flower. — See Mimulus, 
and Diplacus. 

Monk Flower. — See Monocan- 
thus. 

Monkshood. — See Aconitum. 



M0RJ5A. 



186 



MOSSHOUSES. 



MoNocHLAMYDEiE, — Plants having 
only a calyx and no corolla ; in oppo- 
sition to Dichlamydeje, which are the 
plants which have both a calyx and a 
corolla. 

Monocotyledonous plants are those, 
seeds of which send up only one coty- 
ledon or seed-leaf when they vegetate; 
and have leaves, the veins in which 
are in parallel lines. The ligneous, or 
woody plants belonging to this division 
increase very little in thickness during 
the whole period of their existence ; 
and their wood consists of fibrous 
matter, fresh quantities of which are 
deposited every year within the stem. 
See Endogens. 

Monoecious plants are those which 
have the male and female flowers se- 
parate ; but still on the same plant ; 
while Dicecious plants are those 
that have the male and female flowers 
distinct, and on different plants. 

Mono'psis. — Lobelidcece.—A very 
beautiful little trailing plant, having 
dark blue flowers with conspicuous 
yellow anthers, and the flowers on 
long foot-stalks. It is a native of the 
Cape of Good Hope, and it should be 
grown in sandy peat. It is suitable 
for rockwork. 

Monsonia. — Geraniacece. — Very 
beautiful herbaceous plants, nearly 
allied to the Geraniums, but with 
much larger flowers, and named in 
honour of Lady Anne Monson. They 
are now rarely seen, but well deserve 
cultivation. They should be grown 
in a mixture of vegetable mould and 
loam, and kept in a greenhouse. They 
are propagated by cuttings, or dividing 
the roots. They are natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope. 

Moon-seed. — See Menispe'rmum. 

Moon Trefoil. — Medicago ar- 
borea. — See Medicago. 

Moor Heath. — See Gypsocallis. 

Mor^a. — Iridece. — Bulbous-root- 
ed plants, with very handsome flowers, 
nearly allied to Ixia, from which ge- 



nus they have been removed. They 
are generally grown in pots in a mix- 
ture of sandy loam and vegetable 
mould ; and when they have done 
flowering they should be kept dry 
till they begin to grow in spring. 
When planted in the open ground, 
they should be protected from frost 
and heavy rains. 

Moricandia. — Cruciferce. — A 
very pretty hardy annual, which should 
be sown in the open border in March 
or April . 

Mormod es. — Orchidacece. — An 
orchideous epiphyte, with dark purple 
flowers, from the Spanish Main. It 
should be grown on a piece of wood. 
See Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Morna. — Composites. — Beautiful 
half-hardy annuals, with everlasting 
flowers, which should be raised on a 
hot-bed, and planted out in May. 

Mosshouses are constructed of wood 
lined with rough boards, to which 
moss, either of one or of different 
kinds, is attached by cord or wire, and 
nails. The roof is also covered with 
boards, to which is fixed sometimes 
thatch, and at other times heath, or 
the mossy bark of oak, pine, birch, or 
other old trees. The floor is gene- 
rally paved with blocks of wood, or 
sometimes with small pebbles, or any 
other material, according to fancy. 
The ceilings are generally lined with 
moss in the same manner as the side 
walls, and both may be formed into 
pannels according to the taste of the 
designer. There are a great many 
kinds of moss and lichens which may 
be used for lining mosshouses. Of 
terrestrial mosses, those which are 
most common are the Dicranum 
glaucum, which is of a whitish green, 
and Bryum hornum, which is of a 
yellowish green ; Sphagnum acuti- 
folium is of a pinkish colour, and 
S. obtusifblium is of a yellowish 
white. The common tree mosses, or 
technically lichens, are Cendmyce 



MOSSHOUSES. 



187 



MOUNTAIN ASH. 



rangiferina, the reindeer moss, 
which is found on the ash, and on 
many other trees, and is white. This 
moss also grows in great abundance 
on poor gravelly soils among heath, 
for example, on Bagshot Heath. — 
Near London any quantity of the 
green moss, and also of the yellow 
kind, may he purchased in Covent 
Garden market; and the reindeer moss, 
if ordered from local nurserymen ad- 
joining heaths, may be collected by 
the same persons who supply them 
with the other mosses. Almost 
everything in an affair of this kind 
must be left to the fancy of the de- 
signer. Some of the handsomest moss- 
houses in England have been erected 
in Bagshot Park, the seat of the 
Duchess of Gloucester, by Her Royal 
Highness's very intelligent gardener, 
Mr. Toward. Mosshouses must not 
be confounded with roothouses, which 
are formed with fantastic roots, or 
with woodhouses, which are formed 
with branches of trees with the bark 
on. When a mosshouse is to be 
erected, the first thing to be done is 
to make a drawing of the effect that 
it is intended to produce, and then to 
prepare the frame. If the moss- 
house is to be only a kind of alcove 
open in front and without windows, 
it will be easy to get some wood, and 
any man-servant who can use a saw 
and a hammer can put it together; 
but if it is to have a door and windows, 
a regular carpenter must be called in. 
In the first case, young pine and 
larch tree8 that have been cut down 
in thinning plantations, will do very 
well. When the framework is com- 
pleted, lathes must be nailed across 
the compartments, between which the 
moss is thrust with a wooden knife, 
or blunt chisel, the root end being 
lowest. The great art consists in 
arranging the moss so as to form a 
pattern ; and this is accomplished by 
sorting the moss into heaps of the 



different colours, tracing the pattern 
rudely on the lathes, and keeping a 
coloured copy of the design before the 
operator. The moss should be so 
contrived as completely to hide the 
lathes, and it should also be pushed 
in to a sufficient depth to be quite 
firm. The lines of the figure should 
be quite distinct, and the colours 
clear, and well contrasted. 

Mould. — Thoroughly decomposed 
leaves cr putrescent manure, mixed 
with sand or other light soil, is called 
mould, which is chiefly distinguished 
from soils by its containing but a 
small portion of earthy matter : hence 
we have leaf mould, composed chiefly 
of rotten leaves ; dung mould, of dung 
reduced to a dry powdery matter, and 
heath mould, consisting of the black 
vegetable soil found on the surface of 
heaths, and always more or less mixed 
with sand. The two first kinds of 
mould are used for growing plants 
which in cultivation are considerably 
removed from a state of nature, such 
as Pelargoniums, China Roses, Fuch- 
sias, Balsams, Petunias, and a great 
many others; and the heath mould 
is used in the culture of heaths and of 
Ericaceae, and more or less in most 
New Holland and Cape shrubs, and 
in bulbs. In general, all plants what- 
ever, from the oak to the moss, will 
grow in heath mould alone, and 
therefore it is a particularly useful soil 
in which to raise seedlings ; and in 
this respect it differs materially from 
leaf mould and dung mould, in which 
they will not grow. Garden mould 
is composed of decayed vegetables and 
manure, mixed with the finer part 
of the soil, thoroughly pulverized 
by repeated digging, raking, and 
hoeing. 

Mountain Ash. — Pyrus aucupa- 
ria. — A well-known tree, very orna- 
mental in shrubberies for the abund- 
ance of red berries with which it is 
covered every autumn. It is quite 



MOWING. 



188 



MUTISIA. 



hardy, and will grow in any soil and 
situation. 

MouseThorn. See Ruscus. 

Moutan. — The tree Peony. See 
PoeoNiA. 

Mountain Ebony See Bau- 

HINIA. 

Mouset \iL.~Myosurus minimus. 

Mouse. — Mice are sometimes trou- 
blesome in gardens in country places, 
particularly where there are many 
bulbs planted, as they eat the solid 
bulbs or corms. To prevent their 
ravages chopped furze is sometimes 
buried with the bulbs, or the clipping 
of those hedges or rose briars is laid 
over the bed. 

Moving Plant. — Hedysarum gy- 
rans. — See Hedysarum. 

Mowing is an operation performed 
with the scythe, and in ornamental 
gardening it is used for the purpose of 
keeping the grass quite short and 
smooth. It is the most laborious 
operation which falls to the lot of the 
working gardener, and in large places 
there are generally a set of labourers 
who are not gardeners, who are kept 
on purpose for it. A substitute for 
mowing with the scythe has lately 
been introduced in the form of a mow- 
ing machiue, which requires far less 
skill and exertion than the scythe, 
and answers perfectly where the sur- 
face of the soil to be mowed is per- 
fectly smooth and firm, the grass of 
even quality, and the machine only 
used in dry weather. It is particu- 
larly adapted for amateurs, affording 
an excellent exercise to the arms and 
every part of the body ; but it is 
proper to observe that many gardeners 
are prejudiced against it. Where a 
lawn is varied by numerous small 
beds or single trees or bushes, the 
scythe is required, in addition to the 
machine, for mowing up close to the 
branches or stems of the plants ; but 
where an amateur mows his own lawn 
with a machine, a better instrument 



than the scythe for the purpose men- 
tioned, is a pair of common hedge 
shears, with which the grass may be 
clipped as short as it can be mown. 
When a lawn is newly formed, and 
the soil is rich, it will require to be 
mown every eight or ten days for the 
first or second summers ; but after- 
wards, when the soil becomes ex- 
hausted, and the grass grows with less 
vigour, once a fortnight for the three 
summer months will suffice, and once 
every three weeks or a month for the 
autumn. 

Mulching is seldom used in flower 
gardens, though it may be applied 
advantageously to Camellias and Mag- 
nolias, and any other half-tender 
shrubs. It consists in laying a quan- 
tity of straw or litter round the stem 
of the plant, so as to cover the whole 
of the roots during winter, and either 
removing it, or forking it into the 
ground in spring. 

Mullein. See Verbascum. 

Musa. — MusacecB. — ThePlantain, 
or Banana. Stove plants, grown 
generally for their fruit, but very 
ornamental in their large leaves and 
curious flowers. Most of the species 
require a great deal of room, as they 
will neither flower nor fruit till they 
attain a large size. They should be 
grown in a rich loam kept moist, and 
they are increased by suckers. The 
new kind, Musa Cavendishii, flowers 
when of a much smaller size than any 
of the other kinds. 

Muscari. — Asphodelece. — The 
GrapeHyacinth. Bulbous-rooted plants 
that only require planting in any 
common garden soil ; where they 
may remain several years, flowering 
every year in succession, without any 
care being necessary in taking them 
up, &c. 

Mutisia. — Composites. — Curious 
plants, with tendrils at the extremity 
of the leaves. They are natives of 
Brazil, and require a stove in Eng- 



NAILING. 



189 



NAILING. 



land. They should be grown in peat 
and loam, and they are propagated by 
cuttings. 

Myanthus. — Orchidacece. — Fly- 
wort. An orchideous epiphyte from 
Demerara, which should be grown in 
the moist stove on half-rotten wood. 
See Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Myginda. — Rhamnacece. — Hand- 
some shrubs, nearly allied to the 
Holly : natives of the West Indies. 
They are generally stove plants in 
England, and they should be grown 
in sandy "loam. 

Myoporum. — Myoporinae. — Aus- 
tralian shrubs, with white flowers, 
generally kept in a greenhouse, and 
which should be grown in peat and 
sand. 

Myosotis. — BoraginecB. — M.pa- 
lustris, the Forget-me-not, delights in 
moist places on the borders of running 
streams. M. Sylvdtica, which is 
found in woods, resembles it, but the 
flowers are very inferior. 

Myosurus. — Ranunculacece. — 
Mouse-tail. A British weed, with 
pretty flowers, that looks well on 
rock-work. 

Myrica. — Myricacece. — TheCan- 
dleberry Myrtle and the Sweet Gale 
belong to this genus, and they are both 
interesting to the botanist. They 
should be grown in loam and peat, and 
they are propagated by cuttings. 

My'rtus. — Myrtacece. — A genus 
of beautiful evergreen shrubs, natives 
of Europe, Asia, South America, and 
some of them of New Holland. The 
common myrtle, M. communis, of 
which there are eight or ten very 
distinct varieties, is too well known 



to require any description. They are 
not surpassed in beauty of foliage by 
any exotic shrub, and the flowers are 
of a pure white, and, like the leaves, 
fragrant. The fragrance arises from 
an oil which is secreted in little cells, 
whcih appear as dots when the leaves 
are held up to the light. The hand- 
somest varieties of the common myrtle 
are the Roman, or broad-leaved, the 
broad-leaved Dutch, the narrow- 
leaved, and the double-flowered . 

They will grow in any common soil, 
somewhat loamy, and are propa- 
gated with most facility by cuttings of 
the current year's wood when it is just 
beginning to ripen, cut across at a 
joint, and then planted in sand, and 
covered with a bell-glass. Cuttings 
will root, however, taken off at any 
season, and treated with common care. 
Myrtles may also be raised from 
seeds, which are produced freely by 
the broad-leaved kinds. M. tomen- 
tosa is a native of China, with woolly 
I leaves and purple flowers, which 
appear in June and July. M. pi- 
mento,, no w made Pimenta vulgaris, 
is a native of the West Indies, re- 
quiring a stove, and is the plant pro- 
ducing the common allspice of the 
shops. The common broad-leaved, 
myrtle will stand the winter against 
a conservative wall, in dry soil, in 
most parts of England, and also in 
Scotland, more particularly in low 
situations near the sea. In most 
parts of Ireland it is as hardy as the 
common Laurustinus is in the climate 
of London. Garden hedges are made 
of it at Belfast, and also at Cork. 



N. 

Nailing half-hardy shrubs against is on account of their being orna- 
a wall is an operatiou that should be mental, nothing should be shown 
performed with great care ; and, as which tends in the slightest degree to 
the sole object of growing the shrubs injure this effect. For this reason 



NARCISSUS. 



190 



>*EMESIA. 



the nails should be small and round- 
headed, and strips of leather or black 
tape are preferable to list. Leather 
is sometimes preferred to list, even 
for fruit-trees, because it does not 
harbour insects ; but it is too expen- 
sive to be used on a large scale. In 
nailing ornamental shrubs the branches 
should not be kept so close to the 
■wall as fruit-trees, as half their beauty 
would be lost if they were deprived of 
their loose shoots. All that is re- 
quired is to train the trunk and main 
blanches. 

Nandina. — BerberidecB. — A green- 
house shrub ; a native of China ; with 
white flowers, disposed in elegant 
racemes. It should be grown in 
loam and peat ; and it is propagated 
by cuttings of the ripe wood, the 
leaves of which must not be shortened, 
and which must be struck in sand 
under a bell-glass. 

Napoleon's Weeping Willow. — 
This willow differs from the common 
kind in several respects, and it is 
probably the male variety of Salix 
Babylonica, of which only the female 
was formerly known in England. It 
is of much slower growth than the 
common kind, and therefore much bet- 
ter adapted for planting in a shrubbery. 

Narcissus. — Amaryllidacece. — 
The genus Narcissus is a very exten- 
sive one, embracing, as it does, the 
Jonquils, the Polyanthus Narcissus, 
the little Hoop Petticoat, the Poet's 
Narcissus, and the Daffodils, besides 
numerous others. The late Mr. 
Haworth paid great attention to this 
genus, and divided it into thirteen 
new genera, none of which, however, 
have been adopted by other botanists, 
though their names have been pre- 
served in the sections into which the 
genus Narcissus is now divided. All 
the Narcissi are quite hardy, and will 
grow in any common garden soil ; and 
they are all increased by off-sets. 
They may be left in the ground ee- 



I veral years without sustaining any 
injury ; the only care necessary in 
their culture being not to shorten 
or cut off the leaves after the plant 
has flowered, but to leave them on 
till they wither naturally, as their 
assistance is necessary to mature the 
new bulb, which forms every year in 
the place of the old one. It is the 
more necessary to attend to this, as 
many gardeners, from a mistaken idea 
of neatness, cut off the leaves of the 
Narcissi as soon as the flowers have 
faded, and in this way first enfeeble, 
and finally kill the plants. 

Nasturtium. See Trop^olum. 

Navelwort. See Cotyledon. 

Neck of a plant. The collar, col- 
let, neck, or vital knot, is the point 
of junction from which spring the 
ascending stem and branches, aud the 
descending roots. This point has been 
called the heart of the plant, because 
any injury done to it causes instant 
death. 

Nelu'mbium. — Nymphacece. — 
The Indian Lotus, or Sacred Bean of 
India. A stove aquatic, generally with 
white or pale pink flowers ; rather diffi- 
cult to flower in this country, as it 
requires great heat, aud abundance of 
room ; the seeds also, which are sent 
over from India, only rarely vegetate. 
The seeds should be sown in rich 
loamy soil in the bottom of a large 
tub, which should be kept full of 
water while the plants are growing, 
but which may be allowed to become 
dry when the flowers have faded. 
The plants are increased by dividing 
the root, or by seeds. There are two 
West Indian Nelumbiums; one of 
which has pale blue, and the other 
pale yellow flowers. It must be ob- 
served, that the Nelumbium or Indian 
Water Lily differs essentially from the 
Egyptian Water Lily or Lotus of the 
Nile, which flowers freely in a stove 
aquarium. See Nymphia. 

Nemesia. — Scrophularinece. — 



NE RINE\ 



191 



ne'rium. 



Little annual and perennial plants, 
natives of the Cape of Good Hope, 
which will grow in any light loamy 
soil; hut which require protection 
from frost. 

Nkmopanthes. — Celastrinece, or 
AquifoliacecB. — The new name for 
Ilex canadensis. 

Nemo'phila. — Hydrophyllacets. 
— Beautiful little annual plants, na- 
tives of California, that require the 
usual treatment of similar plants. See 
Californian Annuals, and An- 
nuals, p. 16. 

Nepe'nthes. — Cytinece. — The 
Chinese Pitcher-plant. There are 
two species, in common cultivation, 
one a native of China, and the other 
of Ceylon ; both of them being 
marsh plants, and requiring the pot 
in which they grow to stand in a 
saucer full of water. 2V. distilla- 
tbria grows above eight feet high, 
and it shows a tendency to curl 
its tendrils round other plants, or any 
object within its reach, so as to sup- 
port its pitchers, which are at the ex- 
tremity of its tendrils. Both species 
should be grown in a peaty soil, and 
they both require the heat of a stove. 
Neither the flowers nor the fruit have 
the slightest beauty to recommend 
them. Some new pitcher plants 
which are said to be distinct species 
have been recently introduced. 

Ne'peta Labiates. — Catmint. 

Hardy herbaceous plants of no beauty, 
which grow freely, in any common 
soil. 

Ne'rine\ — Amaryllidaceae. — 
Showy bulbous-rooted plants, the 
type of which is the Guernsey Lily, 
and which are natives of the Cape of 
Good Hope, China, and Japan. The 
Guernsey lily is a native of Japan, 
and the reason why it has obtained its 
English name is said to be, that a ship 
laden with these bulbs and other 
plants from China, was wrecked on 
the coast of Guernsey ; and that the 



bulbs being washed on shore took 
root in the sandy soil of the beach, 
and flourished there so remarkably as 
to be supposed to be natives of tbe 
island. Whether this story be true 
or not, it is quite certain that for 
nearly two hundred years these bulbs 
have been cultivated in Guernsey with 
the greatest success, growing freely in 
the open air, and producing abund- 
ance of offsets every year, from which 
the English market is supplied. In 
England the bulbs are generally 
planted in spring, in pots of very 
sandy loam, and placed in some win- 
dow or other situation where they 
will have plenty of light : they flower 
in September and October, and as soon 
as they have flowered the bulbs are 
generally thrown away, as they are 
said never to flower well the second 
year. This is, however, entirely the 
fault of the grower, as if they were 
planted in a well-drained sunny 
border in the open ground, and al- 
lowed to mature their new bulbs every 
year by the agency of the leaves, there 
is no doubt but they would live as 
long as any of the kinds of Narcissi, 
and flower as freely. The bulbs 
might be protected in winter by a 
layer of dead leaves, or litter from a 
cowhouse ; and the bed, which should 
be of light sandy soil, should be 
occasionally manured in spring by a 
layer of old cow-dung. 

Ne x rium. — Apocynece. — The Ole- 
ander, or Rose Laurel. There are 
three distinct species of Nerium, 
besides several varieties. The first 
of these is the common Oleander, a 
native of Italy, but which is generally 
kept in a greenhouse in England ; the 
second, which is called N. flavescens, 
has yellow flowers ; and the third, JV. 
odorum, which is a native of India, 
is a stove plant. The greenhouse 
species and their varieties (to which may 
be added JV. splendens, supposed to be 
a hybrid between JV. oleander and 



NICA'iNDRA. 



192 



NIGELLA . 



iV. odbnim) all require a soil com- 
posed of one-half loam, one quarter 
peat, and one quarter vegetable mould, 
or rotten dung ; or, if this soil cannot 
be obtained, equal parts of peat, loam, 
and sand. They should be regularly 
watered every day ; but as no water 
should ever be allowed to remain in 
a stagnate state about their roots, the 
pots in which they are grown should 
have no saucers. They should also 
be repotted at least once every year, 
and the soil shaken out from the 
roots, as they are plants which throw 
out a good deal of excrementitious 
matter, which poisons the soil in 
which they grow. This repotting 
should take place in spring; and, 
after it has been performed, the plants 
should be watered and set in the 
shade for a day or two. As soon as 
they begin to grow, they should have 
plenty of light and air, and they 
should be regularly watered twice 
a-day, observing never to let any 
water remain in the saucer, if the pot 
should have one, though it is much 
better without. Thus treated, the 
Oleander will grow rapidly, and throw 
out such large bunches of flowers as 
to form truly splendid objects. The 
stove species is generally grown in 
rather a moist heat ; but it may be 
removed to the greenhouse, or even 
the open air, during the hottest months 
of summer, if care be taken to water 
its roots twice a-day, and syringe it 
every evening over head. 

New Jersey Tea. — See CeaW- 
thus. 

New Zealand Tea. — Leptosper- 
mum scoparium. 

Nica'ndra. — Solanacece. — The 
Alkekengi, or Kite-flower. A strong 
and vigorous annual, growing five or 
six feet high, and throwing out numer- 
ous branches. The flowers are blue, 
and the fruit is in an inflated capsule, 
like that of the bladder nut, or winter 
cherry. It is a native of Peru, and 



its seeds should be sown in March or 
April, in a shrubbery or border, where 
the plants may have plenty of room, 
the seeds being put into the ground 
singly, and at least three feet apart. 

Nicotia x na. — Solanacece. — The 
Tobacco. All the different kinds of 
Tobacco have showy flowers ; but the 
handsomest species are N. tabacum, 
the Virginian or common Tobacco, N. 
noctijibra, N. rnultivdlvis, and A r . 
longiflbra. All these are annuals, 
and their seeds should be raised on a 
slight hot-bed or warm border; and 
the plants, when in their second pair 
of leaves, should be transplanted to a 
bed of light rich soil, where theyshould 
be planted three feet apart every way. 
While the plants are young, the joint3 
of the leaves should be frequently ex- 
amined, in search of a caterpillar which 
is frequently found there, and which, 
if not removed, will eat off the points 
of the shoots, and consequently de- 
stroy the beauty of the plant. N. 
rustica, the common, or English 
Tobacco, the leaves of which are 
generally used for making tobacco- 
water, &c, should never be grown in 
a garden, as the flowers are of a dirty 
greenish yellow, and the whole plant 
is covered with clammy hairs, ex- 
tremely disagreeable to the touch. 

Nierembergia. — Solanacece. — 
There are four species of Nierembergia, 
all natives of South America, viz. JV. 
gracilis, 2V. arisiata, 2V. filicaulis, 
and N. calycina, all of which are 
pretty little greenhouse plants, with 
whitish flowers, but not at all showy. 
I have been thus particular in enume- 
rating the kinds, because from Pro- 
fessor Don and Dr. Graham having 
at first supposed that some of the 
kinds of Petunia belonged to Nierem- 
bergia, great confusion has arisen. 
The Nierembergias should be grown 
in peat and sand, and kept regularly 
watered. 

Nigelxa. — Ranunculacea. — 



NONEA. 



193 



NYCTANTHUS. 



The Fennel-flower, or Devil in a 
Bush. Annual plants, with showy 
flowers, which are, however, almost 
hidden by their leafy involucres. jV". 
hispanica is the handsomest species. 
They only require sowing in March or 
April in the open border ; or they may 
be sown in autumn, as they will stand 
the winter without protection, and 
will thus be ready to flower early in 
summer. 

Nightshade. — See Sola v num. 

Nissolia. — Leguminosce. — The 
Grass Vetch. A rare British plant, 
with grass-like leaves and bright crim- 
son single flowers, which looks very 
well on rock-work, where it can be 
kept moist. 

Nitraria. — FicoidecB. — Low 
sbrubs with white flowers, which are 
very hardy, and will grow well in 
situations exposed to the sea. In 
gardens, the ground in which they 
grow should be occasionally watered 
with water in which saltpetre has been 
dissolved. 

Noisette Rose. — Roses which bear 
their flowers in bunches, and which 
were named from a nurseryman of the 
name of Noisette, in Paris, who raised 
the first from seed of the common 
China. For the culture, see Rosa. 

Nolana. — Nolanacees. — Trailing 
annual plants, with pretty blue flowers, 
that only require sowing in March in 
the open border. N. atriplicifolia, 
the handsomest species, strongly re- 
sembles the minor Convolvulus. 

NoLlTANGERE, Or NoLI-ME-TANGERE. 

— See Impatiens. 

Nonea. — BoraginecB. — The name 
given to the new genus, divided from 
Anchusa, the Bugloss, and which in- 
cludes several of the most ornamental 
of the annual species, such as A. ver- 
sicolor, A. lutea, A. rosea, &c, and 
some perennials. They are all quite 
hardy, and the annual kinds only 
require sowing in the open border in 
March. 



Norfolk Island Pine. — Arau- 
caria excelsa. — One of the largest 
trees in the world in its native country, 
but which can only be grown of small 
size in England, from its requiring 
protection during winter. 

Notel^ a. — Oleacece . — Australian 
shrubs with white floweis, greatly re- 
sembling in their leaves and general 
appearance the European olive. They 
are generally kept in a greenhouse, 
and grown in sandy peat ; but they 
are nearly hardy, and make good 
shrubs for the back ground of a 
balcony. 

Nuphar. — Nymphacece. — The 
yellow Water Lily. A British plant, 
common in stagnant water. The 
popular name is Brandy Bottle, from 
the flowers smelling like brandy. 
They look very well in ponds, or even 
cisterns, where they will grow freely 
if the seeds are sown in a layer of 
loam at the bottom. The plants may 
also be increased by division. 

Nutta'llia. — Malvaceae. — Beauti- 
ful poppy-like perennial plants, which 
may be planted out in summer, but 
which must be protected during winter 
in a frame or greenhouse. They 
should be grown in light rich soil, 
consisting principally of vegetable 
mould, with a little loam ; and, when 
in flower, they are very beautiful. 

Nyctanthus. — JasminecB. — The 
Indian Jasmine. This plant, which 
is generally grown in a stove in Eng- 
land, gives out its odour only by 
night, and is the plant alluded to by 
Moore in the following well-known, 
lines : — 

The timid Jasmine buds, that keep 
Their odour to themselves all day ; 
But, when the sunlight dies away, 
Let the delicious fragrance out 
To every breeze that roams about. 

The plants should be grown in loam 
and peat, and would probably succeed 
in a greenhouse, as it is found that 
o 



OENOTHERA. 



194 



OFFSETS. 



they do not flower well if they are kept 
too hot. 

Nymprea. — Nymphacece. — The 
Water Lily. One species of this 
beautiful plant grows wild in England, 
but there are others, some blue and 



some pink, from Egypt, which must 
be grown in the aquarium of a hot- 
house to induce them to flower in 
England. They should be grown in 
a rich loamy soil, and kept in the 
warmest part of the stove. 



Ocynum. — Labiates. — Basil. 
Some of the East India perennial 
species are ornamental, and worth 
cultivating in the stove, where they 
should be grown in sandy loam. 

Odontoglossum. — OrchidacecB. — 
A splendid genus of Mexican epi- 
phytes, requiring the usual treatment 
of similar plants. See Orchideous 
Epiphytes. 

(Enothe^a. — Onagraceee. — The 
Evening Primrose. Perennial, bien- 
nial, and annual plants, with large 
flowers. The yellow and white 
flowering kinds, which are the true 
evening primroses, are now the only 
ones left in the genus, the pur- 
ple-flowered ones having been re- 
moved to the genus Godetia. The 
evening primroses have the peculi- 
arity of only opening their flowers in 
an evening, or when the sun is over- 
cast ; as, contrary to the habits of 
most other flowers, they seem unable 
to bear much light. They are all of 
the easiest culture, and will grow in 
any common garden soil, without any 
other care than occasionally taking up 
and replanting the perennial kinds, 
and sowing the annual and biennial 
ones every year in March or April. 
Of the biennial kinds, CE. noctuma 
and CE. villosa, both natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope, are rather ten- 
der ; and of the perennials, CE. rosea, 
(E. ccespitosa, and CE. anisoloba, 
require a slight protection during 
winter. CE. acaulis, which is a na- 
tive of Chili, though a common bor- 
der flower, should have a flower-pot 



or hand-glass turned over it in severe 
frosts ; CE. ccespitosa, and CE. aniso- 
loba, both splendid plants, should 
also be protected during winter, par- 
ticularly from heavy rains, as they are 
very apt to damp off if they are ex- 
posed to too much moisture. Pax ton 
recommends removing the damp soil 
from the roots of these plants when 
growing in the open ground in Octo- 
ber, and after replacing it with dry 
soil, covering the plant with dry saw- 
dust, and setting a flower-pot over it, 
the hole in the bottom having been 
first stopped to keep out the snow and 
rain. In this state it should remain 
till March, when the sawdust should 
be removed, and the plant covered 
with a hand-glass till it can bear ex- 
posure to the cold. Both kinds should 
be grown in a mixture of peat and 
loam ; and both are propagated by 
dividing the root into pieces about an 
inch and a half long in autumn, and 
planting them. 

Offsets are a natural means by 
which plants propagate themselves. 
In bulbs, the offsets are small bulbs 
which form by the side of the princi- 
pal one, from which they should be 
broken off when the bulbs are taken 
up and replanted. In shrubs and peren- 
nial plants, the offsets either spring 
from the collar of the old plant or 
from an underground stem ; and in 
both cases, as they are provided with 
roots of their own, though they draw a 
part of their support from the main 
stem, they only require dividing and 
replanting to form new plants. 



ONC'lDIUM. 



195 



ONO'SMA. 



Old Man's Beard. See Geropo- 
gon. 

Oleander. — See Neri'um. 

Onc'ibium. — Orchidacece. — Well- 
known orchideous plants -with very 
curious flowers. O. papilio, the 
butterfly plant, is certainly as much 
like a butterfly as it is possible to 
imagine a flower to be ; and as it is 
borne on a long slender stem, which 
quivers with every breeze, it forms no 
bad representation of a beautiful in- 
sect fluttering over the neighbouring 
flowers. O. altissimum has a spike 
of flowers which is sometimes ten or 
twelve feet in length. All the kinds 
are very handsome, and some of them 
are splendid. They are all natives of 
South America, Mexico, and the 
West Indies ; and as they will thrive 
in a much lower temperature than the 
dendrobiums, and some of the other 
orchidaceas, they are very suitable for 
a small hothouse. All the kinds may 
be grown in pots, though some of the 
smallest appear to thrive most tied on 
pieces of wood and hung from the 
rafters. The soil should be turfy 
peat, broken in pieces about the size 
of gooseberries, and mixed with an 
equal quantity of potsherds broken 
somewhat smaller. The pots should 
be large, and filled a third of their 
depth with broken potsherds rather 
larger than those mixed with the soil. 
Great care should be taken in repot- 
ting any of the Oncidiums, as the 
roots will be found to adhere strongly 
to the sides of the old pot, and thus 
are easily broken. To prevent this, 
the plants should be shifted as seldom 
as possible ; and when shifting is in- 
evitable, they should be kept without 
water for several days beforehand, so 
that the plants may be in a flagging 
and feeble state, and their roots have 
less power of adhesion. All the On- 
cidiums should be regularly watered, 
but they should not often be syringed 
overhead, as they are very apt to rot 



if any water should lodge in the 
centre, or what gardeners call the 
heart, of the plant. 

The commonest kinds of Oncidium 
are, O. flexubsum, a very beautiful 
species, with a long, much-branched 
panicle of bright yellow flowers ; O. 
crispum, the flowers of which are of 
a copper colour, and much undulated 
or curled ; O. altissimum, with a 
very long flower-stem, somewhat 
branched, and with yellow flowers 
spotted with brown ; O. luridum, 
with a panicle of greenish brown 
flowers ; and O. papilio, the flowers 
of which are borne singly, on long, 
simple, and naked stalks. Besides 
these, there are many species nearly 
allied to 0. altissimum and O. lii- 
ridum and there are also some 
dwarf species, such as O. triquetrum 
and O. raniferum, the latter having 
drooping racemes of very small 
flowers. The colours are generally 
yellow and brown ; but O. pulch il- 
ium, a very beautiful species, has 
white flowers tinged with pink, and 
O. triquetrum has white flowers 
blotched with purple. O. raniferum 
should be grown on a piece of wood 
hung from the rafters ; and O. pa- 
pilio, and some of the other species, 
may be treated in the same manner. 

Onobrv v chis. — Leguminosce. — 
Saintfoin. Hardy perennial plants, 
some of the species of which are pretty 
and suitable for rockwork. 

Ono'nis. — Leguminosce. — The 
Rest Harrow. Little herbaceous and 
shrubby plants, some of which are 
natives of Britain, and which have 
generally yellow or pink flowers. Most 
of the kinds should be grown in peat, 
or in very sandy loam ; and they are 
all suitable for rockwork. Some of 
the kinds from the south of Europe 
are rather tender ; but they will all 
live in the open air, with a very slight 
protection, during hard frosts. 

Ono'sma. — Boraginecs. — Peren- 
o 2 



OPUNTIA. 



196 



OPUNTIA. 



uial plants, natives of Europe, gene- 
rally -with yellow flowers, of low 
growth, and suitable for rockwork. 
They should be grown in sandy peat. 

Opera Girls. — See Mantisia. 

Ophrys. — Orchidacece. — Dwarf 
plants belonging to the terrestrial 
orchideae, with very curious flowers. 
One of these, 0. apifera, looks as 
though a bee were buried in the 
flower ; another, O. aramfera, has 
the lip in the form of a spider ; and 
in a third, O. muscifera, the whole 
flower resembles a fly. For the cul- 
ture of these plants see Orchis. 

Opuntia. — Cacfacece. — The 
Prickly Pear. This is the hardiest of 
all the genera of cacti, as there are 
some species which will live in the 
open ground in England, with only a 
slight protection from frost during 
winter ; and they grow freely in the 
south of Europe. The hardiest kind 
is Opuntia vulgaris, of which there 
are forests on Mount Etna, growing 
in chinks and crevices in the rocks, 
where there appears scarcely soil 
enough to contain their roots. They 
are equally abundant in the rocky 
districts of Spain, where they grow so 
vigorously, and so apparently in a 
state of nature, that a doubt has arisen 
whether they are not natives of Spain 
transported at a very early period to 
South America, instead of being, as is 
generally supposed, natives of Peru, 
introduced by the first Spaniards who 
visited that country, into Spain. The 
fruit which we call the prickly pear, 
but which is called Tuna in Spain, is 
so great a favourite in that country, 
that Karwinsky tells us, in Septem- 
ber, hundreds of vendors sit in the 
streets of the Spanish towns busily 
employed in stripping the fruit off the 
branches which have been gathered 
loaded with it ; their hands and arms 
being fearfully swollen with the 
spines which they have not leisure to 
avoid, so great is the impatience of 



the purchasers to obtain the fruit. 
He adds that many Spaniards will eat 
above a hundred prickly pears in one 
day ; and that some indulge to such 
an excess, that they bring on cholera, 
which is often attended by death, es- 
pecially if the sufferer attempts to 
mitigate his disease by drinking 
brandy. The cochineal insect is bred 
on Opuntia cochiniltifera, or the 
Nopal tree, a native of Mexico, and 
much more tender than the common 
kind. A white woolly substance ap- 
pears on the leaf-like stems of the 
tree, like the American blight on 
apple trees ; and this substance con- 
ceals the female cochineal iusect, 
which is a kind of coccus or scale, 
resembling that on the pine-apple 
and the vine. The male insect is 
winged, and it is only the female that 
produces the dye. When fully grown 
the insects are brushed off the plant 
with the tail of a squirrel or a deer ; 
and they are killed by drying them in 
ovens which makes them curl up, and 
in this state they are ready for sale. 
It is on account of the value attached 
to the cochineal as an article of com- 
merce, that a branch of the Nopal 
tree is introduced into the arms of the 
republic of Mexico. 

All the kinds of Opuntia require 
abundance of dry air and intense solar 
light, and on this account, they do 
best in the open air on a sunny bank 
sheltered by a wall faciug the south. 
In a stove, especially if other plants 
be grown in it requiring a moist tem- 
perature, the Opuntias never produce 
either flowers or fruit ; and, iudeed, 
often die without any apparent cause. 
It is hardly possible for any situation 
to be too hot and dry for these plants, 
as, like all the plants destined to live 
in burning sands, they are furnished 
with very few stomata or breathing 
pores, whilst they have abundant or- 
gans of absorption to draw as much 
moisture as possible from the soil ; 



ORCHIDACE^E, terrestrial. 



197 ORCHIDEOUS EPIPHYTES. 



and thus they are enabled to sustain 
heat that would dry up and "wither 
any plants not succulent. On the 
other hand, these very qualities ren- 
der them easily injured by a super- 
abundance of moisture, as they have 
no means of getting rid of it ; and it 
soon occasions them to damp off, or, 
in other words, to rot. The best soil 
to grow Opuntias in, is a mixture of 
very sandy loam with broken bricks 
and rubbish from old walls ; they re- 
quire but little water at any season, 
except when going into flower, and 
then less than any of the other kinds 
of cacti. They are propagated by cut- 
tings, which must be taken off at a 
joint and laid on a shelf for two or 
three days to dry before planting ; in 
order that the superfluous moisture 
may escape. When planted they 
should not be watered ; and when 
young plants are raised from seed, 
they also should not be watered when 
they are transplanted. See Cactus. 

Orangery. — A house intended 
only for orange trees may be opaque 
at the back, and even the roof, with 
lights only in front, provided the 
plants be set out during summer. In 
fact, so that the plants are preserved 
from the frost, they will do with 
scarcely any light during winter ; and, 
In many parts of the Continent, they 
are kept in a cellar. 

Orange Thorn. — Ciiriobatus. — 
Spinous shrubs, belonging to Pitto- 
sporacese, natives of Port Jackson and 
other parts of Australia, which, from 
bearing small orange-coloured fruit, 
are called Orange Thorn by the colo- 
nists. 

Orange Tree. — See Citrus. 

Orchidace^, terrestrial. — The 
terrestrial Orchidacese are, as their 
names import, those plants belong- 
ing to this extensive order which grow 
in the ground, in contra-distinction to 
the epiphytes or those which grow with 
their roots exposed to the air. The 



terrestrial Orchid ex are of four kinds, 
viz., those from the tropics, which re- 
quire a stove in England ; those from 
the Cape of Good Hope, which require 
a greenhouse ; those from the south 
of Europe, which only need a slight 
protection during winter; and the 
hardy kinds, most of which are natives 
of Great Britain. The stove species 
require nearly the same treatment as 
the epiphytes (see Orchideous Epi- 
phytes) ; and the greenhouse species 
only differ from other greenhouse 
plants in requiring particular care to 
be paid to their drainage. For this 
purpose, the pots should be filled one 
quarter of their depth with broken 
potsherds or cinders, and the soil 
should consist of turfy peat broken 
into pieces, and sand mixed with 
about a third of vegetable mould. 
The half hardy and hardy kinds may 
be grown either in pots or in the open 
ground. — See Orchis. 

Orchideous Epiphytes. — The 
plants thus designated should, pro- 
perly speaking, only be those which 
in their native countries are found 
hanging from the branches of trees, 
with their roots exposed to the air ; 
as these only can be called air plants. 
It is, however, very difficult to draw 
a line of demarcation, as regards cul- 
ture, between these plants, and the 
terrestrial orchidese of the tropics, as 
several of the epiphytes may be grown 
to great perfection in pots ; and others, 
though in a state of cultivation, they 
can only be grown well on branches 
of trees, are found growing naturally 
on exposed rocks. All the true epi- 
phytes, that in their wild state are 
found with their roots hanging down 
in the air, grow in dense forests, 
where shade, moisture, and excessive 
heat, seem essential to their existence ; 
and these plants in a state of culture 
should generally be grown in baskets, 
(such as those figured in p. 104 and p. 
105,) or in husks of cocoa-nuts, half 



ORCHIDEOUS EPIPHTTES. 



198 ORCHIDEOUS EPIPHYTES. 



filled with moss, or tied on pieces of 
■wood, hung up from the rafters of a 
damp stove, and in the shade. This 
rule, however, though apparently so 
reasonable, is not without its excep- 
tions in practice ; probably because, 
as it is impossible to imitate the na- 
tural climate of the plants exactly, 
their wants are changed by the dif- 
ferent situation in which they are 
placed. Thus the West India Den- 
drobiums and Epidendrums, both of 
which in their natural state are gene- 
rally found on the branches of trees, 
in a state of culture, thrive best potted 
in turfy peat or chopped moss, left 
sufficiently loose to allow the points 
of the roots to protrude occasionally, 
and hang down over the sides of the 
pot. The flowers of the Dendrobiums 
are generally produced in long pendent 
racemes ; but those of the Epiden- 
drums are erect,*like those of the 
Oncidiums. Most of the East Indian 
species should always be grown on 
wood ; particularly Rendnthera coc- 
cinea, and all the kinds of Vdnda and 
Sarcdnthus ; the East Indian Den- 
drobiums, and the different species 
of Eria. The species of the general 
Aerides and Coelogyne, however, 
though both are always found on 
trees in their native country, may, in 
England, be grown in pots in turfy 
loam or chopped moss, or in baskets 
of moss. The Stanhopias and Cate- 
setums should be grown in baskets 
of moss, or in pots hung from the 
rafters of the house, as their flowers 
proceed from the roots, and hang 
downwards ; but the Cattleyas, which 
have erect flower-stems, are always 
grown in pots. Where it is not con- 
venient to have pots hanging from the 
rafters, the Stanhopias must have a 
pile of pieces of turfy peat raised at 
least six inches above the rim of the 
pot, and the pseudo-bulbs must be 
placed on the top ; as unless this is 
done, the flower-stem, when pro- 



truded from the root, will bury itself 
in the earth contained in the pot, and 
the flowers will be unable to expand, 
though they will easily make their 
way through the loose pieces of turf. 
Where this mode of potting is adopted, 
slender pieces of wood are generally 
passed at regular distances through the 
pile of turf, to keep the pieces in their 
place. The Catesetums grow in open 
parts of the woods of the tropical regions 
of South America, and one species is 
the celebrated Wourali Vine. They 
all require great heat and moisture, 
and when grown on wood it should 
be on that of soft-barked trees. 

Various expedients have been de- 
vised to produce the shade necessary 
for some of the kinds of Orchideous 
plants. The Orchideous house has 
been in some cases glazed with dark- 
green or brownish glass, double sashes 
have been used, and creeping plants 
trained over the roof. None of these 
plans, however, have proved success- 
ful ; as, though the plants thus treated 
have grown rapidly, it has been to 
produce leaves rather than flowers. 
Whether it be that the plants in an 
artificial state require more light than 
in their native woods, or whether 
the British sun is so much feebler 
than that they have been accustomed 
to, as to render shading unnecessary, 
it is certain that the Orchideous epi- 
phytes in England require plenty of 
light, and that they never flower well 
if kept in comparative darkness. 

Another point that has puzzled cul- 
tivators is to find out what kind of 
wood is most suitable for those kinds 
that are to be grown on hanging 
branches. Mr. Henchman, who col- 
lected Orchidese on the Spanish Main, 
asserts that he never found an Orchi- 
deous plant on a dead tree, whether 
standing or fallen, though he found 
many species of Oncidium, Catase- 
tum, &c. growing on the ground, as 
though they had been accidentally 



OECHIDEOUS EPIPHYTES. 199 ORCHIDEOUS EPIPHYTES. 



dislodged from the trees on which 
they had grown. He even observed 
that the colour of the Oncidium 
papilio "was much darker on the 
ground than it was in its natural 
situation on the branches of a lofty 
tree. From his finding no Orcbidese 
on dead trees, he was led to suppose 
that the plants draw some kind of 
nourishment from the trees on which 
they live ; and he also remarked that 
rough and soft-barked trees were 
their favourite abodes. He found 
Oncidium papilio, and a kind of 
Schomburgkia, called by the Indians 
the Spread Eagle, on the upper 
branches of trees, which were exposed 
to the air, and at least from twenty 
to thirty feet from the ground, and 
O. luridum, and the Catasetums, on 
branches fully exposed to the sun ; 
while the Gongoras, Rodriguezias, and 
Corysanthes were on the soft and 
young wood, not more than seven or 
eight feet from the ground, in the 
most dense and thickest parts of the 
forest. These hints, and the obser- 
vations of other collectors, have been 
of great service to cultivators ; and in 
consequence they generally grow 
their epiphytes on rough-barked trees, 
that of the Robinia pseud.- Acacia, 
(Cobbett's Locust,) for example, half 
covering the log with moss, to retain 
the moisture, and to imitate the soft 
woolly bark of some of the trees of 
the tropics. These logs are hung 
from nails in the rafters, or from rods 
suspended across the roof; and the 
pseudo bulbs or rhizomas of the plants 
are bound on them with fine wire, and 
covered with Sphagnum, or some 
other kind of moss. Messrs. Loddiges 
use living plants of Lycopbdium 
stolomferum, which have the advan- 
tage of looking better, as well as of 
retaining more moisture than any kind 
of dead moss. Mr. Beaton makes 
a ball of moss, which he suspends in 
the hollow formed by the branches of 



a three -forked stick, which he hangs 
up from the rafters till the plants are 
established ; and then he places the 
stick in a pot, taking care that the 
length of the stick below the fork is 
sufficient to hold up the ball of moss 
with the plant attached, just above the 
rim of the pot — after which he fills 
up the pot with pieces of turfy peat. 
When the Orchideous plants are grown 
in baskets, the baskets should be made 
of copper wire, or if of iron, they 
should be painted with anti-corrosive 
paint. They should be formed like 
the basket shown in fig. 12, in p. 
104, with the bars sufficiently apart 
to allow the flower stems of the Stan- 
hopeas, and other plants sending out 
their flower-stems from their roots, 
to push their way through, and to 
hang down between the bars. For 
this reason, baskets like that shown 
in fig. 13, in p. 105, are not suitable 
for any Orchideous plants but those 
that send up their flower-stems from 
their pseudo bulbs. The baskets for 
Stanhopeas and other root-flowering 
plants should be from three to six 
inches deep, and from six to ten 
inches wide ; and they should be 
filled with moss or with strips of turf 
two or three inches wide, and placed 
on end round the inside of the basket, 
so as to stand nearly upright, with a 
large fiat piece in the centre. The plant 
should be placed in the middle, and 
the basket filled up with broken pieces 
of turf, mixed with crocks or cinders, 
if the plant be very delicate, and easily 
affected by too much moisture. These 
baskets are very convenient for Orchi- 
deous plants, as they may either be 
suspended from the roof, or placed on 
an inverted pot ; or if the plant re- 
quires bottom heat, the basket may 
be placed on the surface of a pot 
plunged in the hot-bed. The basket 
also looks better and more elegant 
when the plant is in flower, and is 
wanted to be shown in a drawing- 



ORDER. 



200 



ornitho'galum. 



room. "When Orchideous plants 
arrive from abroad, Mr. Beaton first 
throws them into water ; and after 
they have been thoroughly washed, 
he puts them into a heap, covered 
with a damp mat, where they remain 
for several days, after which he plants 
them in baskets, or ties them on 
moss supported by a forked stick, as 
above described. 

Or'chis. — Orchidacece. — Most of 
the species of the genus Orchis are 
natives of Europe, and a great num- 
ber of them are found wild in Britain. 
With respect to culture, they may be 
divided into two classes ; those which 
grownaturally in peat or heath mould, 
such as O. maculata, O. morio, O. 
mascula, &c. ; and those which 
grow in dry chalky soils, such as 
O. simia, O. militaris, O. fusca, 
O. tephrosdnthos, and O. ustulata. 
In general little can be done in the 
way of propagating Orchises, except- 
ing by seed ; but they may be taken 
up in their native localities when in 
flower, with a ball of earth about 
three inches square to each, and being 
planted in suitable soil in an open 
situation in the garden, they will live 
and flower for several years. Seeds, 
if collected when ripe, and sown im- 
mediately, will come up freely ; and 
if the soil and situation be suitable, 
they will flower freely the second or 
the third year. The same observations 
will apply to Ophrys, Herminium, 
A'ceras, Goodyera, Platanthera, 
Gymnadtnia, and several other 
genera formerly included in the genus 
Orchis. Most of the British Or- 
chises grow well in pots, and they 
may be forced as easily as the com- 
mon Hyacinth. The kinds of Orchis 
which bear flowers resembling insects, 
are now mostly included in the genus 
Ophrys. 

Order. The necessity of order 
is strongly evinced in a flower-garden, 
as the plants in it lose half their 



beauty unless they are placed ac- 
cording to some regular plan, or order 
of arrangement : thus they may be 
either in masses of one colour, or of 
one kind ; or they may be arranged 
according to size, or according to 
some botanical system, at pleasure. 
But whatever mode of arrangement 
may be adopted, it will be found that 
not only the interest excited by the 
garden, but its beauty will be greatly 
increased by some regular order being' 
followed throughout. 

In a botanical point of view the 
word Order signifies a number of 
genera which coincide in several im- 
portant particulars. As for example, 
according to the natural system, the 
order Cruciferse includes all the 
plants that have their flowers like a 
Greek cross ; and according to the Lin- 
nean system, the order Trigynia in- 
cludes all the plants belonging to any 
particular class, the flowers of which 
have three styles, &c. 

Origa v num. — Labiates. — Marjo- 
ram. O. vulgare, the common Marjo- 
ram, is plentiful on chalky soils in 
various parts of England ; and it may 
be planted in patches in gardens or 
shrubberies where bees are kept, for 
the fragrance of the flowers, and the 
delight which the bees appear to have 
in them. The Sweet Marjoram, O. 
?najorana, a native of Portugal, is 
cultivated in England as a pot-herb ; 
and for the Hop Marjoram, or Dit- 
tany of Crete, O. Dictamnus. See 
Dittany. 

Ornitho'galum. — Asphodeleae. 
The Star of Bethelem. Bulbous 
plants with white star-like flowers, 
some of which are frequently kept in 
the greenhouse, but all of which may 
be grown in the open ground, if the 
bulbs are planted in a tolerably dry 
soil, four or six inches deep. Some 
of the handsomest kinds are O. 
pyramiddle, a native of Spain, the 
unopened flower-stalks of which are 



P.£O v NIA. 



201 



OXALIS. 



sold in the market at Bath, and 
other places in the West of England, 
for the table, under the name of 
Prussian asparagus ; O. latifolium, a 
native of Egypt ; and O. caudatum 
from the Cape of Good Hope. The 
latter two are generally considered 
greenhouse plants, but they only re- 
quire protection from severe frosts. 

Orobanche. — Orobanchece. — 
Broom rape. Parasitic British plants ■ 
growing on the roots of other plants, 
which they destroy. They have 
erect stems, somewhat scaly and 
bulbous at the base, and terminating 
in a spike of rather large purplish or 
brownish flowers. They are almost 
incapable of culture, as their seeds 
will lie dormant in the soil for years, 
till they meet with a plant to the 
roots of which they can attach them- 
selves; but if it should be wished to 
grow them, a few seeds of O. major 
may be sown on the roots of any 
kind of broom or furze, and of O. 
caryophallacea on the roots of any 
kind of bramble or of Gallium 
mollugo; and they will probably 
germinate. O. rubra, which is very 
fragrant, may in the same manner be 
sown on the roots of wild thyme ; 
and O. elatior on those of Centau- 
rea scabiosa, the greater Knapweed. 

Orobus. — Leguminosce. — The 
bitter vetch. Pea-flowered, perennial 
plants, some of which are very orna- 
mental, natives of Europe and North 
America, which should be grown in 
peat and loam, and are increased by 
dividing the root. 

Oryza. — Graminea. — Rice. This 
plant is occasionally grown as an ob- 
ject of curiosity in England, though 
the climate is not hot enough to ripen I 



the grain. It is a marsh plant, and 
requires to have its roots constantly 
supplied with water. 

Osage Orange. — See Maclura. 

Osbeckia. — Melastomaceoe. — 
Handsome stove plants, remarkable 
for their showy flowers, and strongly 
ribbed leaves. They should be grown 
in peat, mixed with one-third of sandy 
loam, and kept moist. They are 
propagated by cuttings. 

Osmunda. — Filices. — The flower- 
ing Fern . This is by far the handsomest 
of the fern family. A native of Bri- 
tain, which produces a fine effect in a 
shrubbery, or among trees ; and which 
should be grown in peat, or other 
light soil, and kept moist. 

Oswego tea. — See Mona'rda. 

Osyris. — Osyridea. — 7'he Poets' 
Cassia. A pretty little shrub, with 
white flowers, a native of the South 
of Europe; which should be grown 
in loam and peat, and which is propa- 
gated by cuttings. 

Othonna. — Composites. — Rag- 
wort. Coarse growing greenhouse or 
frame annuals, perennials, and low 
shrubs, all with yellow flowers, and 
all natives of the Cape of Good Hope; 
which are generally grown in loam 
and peat, and which only require the 
usual culture of their respective kinds. 

Oxalis. — Oxalidece. — Wood Sor- 
rel. Mostly perennial and tuberous- 
rooted plants, from the Cape of Good 
Hope; but some few of which are 
natives of Britain, and others of 
Mexico and other parts of America. 
They have showy flowers, and are 
easily cultivated in sandy peat kept 
moist. AW the Cape species require 
protection during winter, and arc 
generally grown in pots. 



PjEo^ia . — RanunculacecB. — The 
herbaceous species are well-known 
showy flowers, which thrive in deep 



P. 

: sandy soil, and are propagated by 
division ; and the auffrutescent or 
shrubby kinds, of which there are 



PALIURUS. 



202 



PARASITES. 



several varieties, thrive ia similar soil, 
and are propagated by laying down 
the shoots, cutting behind each bud, 
and covering them throughout their 
whole length by an inch or two of 
sand or sandy soil. Each bud thus 
treated will throw up a shoot and 
emit roots, and after a year may be 
cut off so as to form a distinct plant. 
The tree peony, as it is called, is 
quite hardy in the climate of London ; 
but as the flowers and leaves come 
out early, they are liable to be in- 
jured by spring frosts, and it is there- 
fore desirable to protect them by a 
horizontal covering a foot or two 
above the plant, which by reflecting 
back the heat radiated from the soil 
keeps up such a temperature as pre- 
vents the plant from freezing. There 
are many very handsome varieties of 
the tree Peony, both double and 
single, but that which is most es- 
teemed is the P. moutan papavera- 
cece, a single variety in which the 
petals are large and white, with a dark 
purple mark at the base, A few 
years ago this variety sold at six 
guineas a plant, but it may now be 
obtained from 3s. 6d. to 5s. Both 
the herbaceous and shrubby peonies 
seed freely ; and as by fecundating 
the flowers of one species with those 
of the others, new varieties may be 
easily procured, raising seedling peo- 
nies forms a source of interest for 
amateurs. 

Palavia Malavacece. — An ele- 
gant annual plant, generally raised on 
a hot-bed, and planted out in May ; 
but which may be sown in the open 
border in April. 

Paliu v rus. — Rhamnacece. — 
Christ's Thorn. A curiously bent 
thorny shrub, with very oddly shaped 
flat fruit, which has given rise to the 
French name for the plant of porte- 
chapeau. It is a native of Asia, and 
it will grow in any common garden 
soil. 



Pancratium. — Amaryllidacece. — 
The Sea Daffodil. Splendid lily- 
like bulbous-rooted plants, some of 
which require a stove, and others the 
greenhouse. They should be grown 
in light loam and vegetable mould ; 
and should be allowed a season of 
rest, by being kept without water 
when not in a growing state. 

Pansy — See Heartsease. 

Papaver. — PapaveracecB. — The 
Poppy. Showy annual and perennial 
plants, which will grow in any com- 
mon garden soil ; and which being 
quite hardy, only require the common 
treatment of their respective kinds. 

Papy v rus. — Cyperacece. — An in- 
teresting marsh plant, which requires a 
stove in England, and which is worth 
growing from its having been the 
only paper used by the ancients. It 
should be planted in loam at the bot- 
tom of a tub or cistern. 

Parasites are plants which root 
into other plants, and differ from epi- 
phytes in that circumstance, the latter 
only growing upon the outside of the 
branches of trees, and deriving nour- 
ishment from the decay of the outer 
bark, and the moisture which it re- 
tains from its porous corky nature. 
The only ligneous parasite which is 
grown in this country is the Miseltoe, 
which is propagated by bruising the 
berries, and causing them to adhere to 
the bark, (see Viscum,) and the chief 
epiphytes are some of the stove Or- 
chidaceae. The British herbaceous 
parasites are Cuscuta epithymum 
and C. europcea upon clover and hops, 
and Orobanche major and Lath- 
rea squamaria on the roots of forest- 
trees. The hardy epiphytes of Bri- 
tain are the lichens and mosses, which 
grow on the bark of old trees, or 
stunted young trees in moist shady 
situations, and some species of ferns, 
such as Polypodium vulgare, which, 
is often found growing on the bark of 
old Pollards in the central districts of 



PARTERRE. 



203 



PARTERRE. 



England, and in great abundance on 
trees in the moist climates of Devon- 
shire, Lancashire, Cumberland, &c. 
It is very abundant on the Oaks in 
the grounds of the Poet Wordsworth, 
on the banks of the lake of Amble- 
side. Almost the only herbaceous 
parasite which can be conveniently 
cultivated in gardens is the Cuscuta 
europcea, the seeds of which when 
gathered on heaths or in hop grounds, 
may be sown at the roots of almost 
any herbaceous plant in gardens, 
when they will spring up, twine rouud 
it, and perhaps ultimately strangle it. 
Cuscuta verrucosa is sometimes 
grown in greenhouses on Geraniums, 
and is noted for the fragrance of its 
blossoms. (See Cuscuta.) Orobanche 
major is very common in clover 
fields in Norfolk, and greatly injures 
the crops of that valuable forage 
plant. It also grows on the roots of 
broom and furze. See Orobanche. 

Parasol Acacia. — Robinia umbra- 
culifera. See Robinia. 

Parterre. The French term for 
what in England is called a flower- 
garden, but which in France in former 
times when the word was originated, 
was most frequently a figure formed 
on the surfV.ee of the ground by turf, 
box, and gravel or sand, with occa- 
sional flowers or low shrubs. In 
these parterres flowers and shrubs 
were altogether secondary objects, 
the main features being the compart- 
ments of turf and the curious scroll- 
work of box. The French divided 
their parterres into three kinds : 
parterres of embroidery, which con- 
sisted chiefly of scroll-work or ara- 
besque figures of box kept low by clip- 
ping ; parterres de compartiments, 
which consisted chiefly of beds of 
turf of different forms, varied by small 
shrubs clipped into regular shape, and 
parterres anglaises, which con- 
sisted of turf in large masses, with 
beds of flowers surrounded by box. 



Parterres of embroidery are now 
rarely to be met with either in 
France or England ; they have been 
totally destroyed at Versailles and 
Fontainebleau ; and in Engl and ,tho ugh 
we have old French gardens at Le- 
vens near the Lakes of Westmore- 
land, at Roxton near Banbury, and 
other places, yet almost the only par- 
terres of embroidery of long standing 
are at Wentworth Castle, Yorkshire, 
and Holland House, in Kensington, 
and the more recently formed ones at 
Wrest in Bedfordshire, and Tren- 
tham Hall in Staffordshire. Par- 
terres of compartments among the 
French generally consisted of one 
square, round, or parallelogram plot 
of turf in the centre, surrounded by a 
border of narrow beds planted with 
flowers and low shrubs, and these are 
at present common both in France 
and Erjgland. Parterres anglaises 
may now be considered as included 
in the parterres of compartments ; 
because the French do not now cut 
up the ground into so many beds as 
formerly, and plant a great many 
more flowers than they did in the 
time of Le Notre. In all the French 
parterres of former times, and also in 
most of those imitated in England, 
the groundwork, or in other words, 
the little walks on which the ara- 
besques of box appeared to be planted, 
were of different coloured sands, gra- 
vel, shells, powdered stones or brick, 
so as to exhibit different colours in 
the same parterre ; but that practice 
is now left off both on the Continent 
and in Britain. In a word, parterres 
are now assemblages of flowers in 
beds or groups, either on a ground of 
lawn or gravel ; in the former case 
the beds are dug out of the lawn, and 
in the latter they are separated from 
the gravel by edgings of box or stone, 
or of some plant, or durable material. 
The shape of the beds in either case 
depends on the style of architecture 



PARTERRE. 



204 



PARTERRE. 



of the house to which the parterre 
belougs, or to the taste and fancy of 
the owner. Whatever shapes are 
adopted they are generally combined 
into asymmetrical figure; for when 
this is not the case the collection of 
beds ceases to be a parterre, or a 
flower-garden, and can only be de- 
signated as a group or collection of 
groups on a lawn. Hence it is that 
all parterres and regular flower-gar- 
dens ought to be separated from the 
scenery by which they are surrounded 
by a line of demarcation, such as a 
low architectural wall with a balus- 
trade and piers, and vases ; a low ever- 
green hedge, a canal, a ridge of rock- 
work, a sunk fence with the sides of 
turf or of stone, a raised fence with 
the ridges aud top of turf, or a raised 
terrace-walk of grass or gravel. 

In planting parterres there are two 
different systems ; one is to plant only 
one kind of flower in a bed so as that 
each bed shall be a mass of one colour, 
and the other is to plant flowers of 
different colours in the same bed. It 
is almost needless to state that the 
former system is by far the best for 
general and striking effect ; but as a 
parterre is frequently a kind of bo- 
tanic garden, and as in this case it is 
desirable to keep all the species of a 
genus together, flowers of all colours 
must occasionally occur in the same 
bed. In general, botanic parterres 
should not be mixed with parterres for 
effect, because the one kind never 
fails greatly to injure the other. 

In planting parterres for general 
effect, the colours should be arranged 
so that those which are adjoining each 
other should be contrasts ; and those 
which occupy corresponding parts of 
the same figure should be the same. 
For example, suppose a bed on one 
side of the centre to be planted with 
yellow flowers, the corresponding bed 
on the other side (the figure being 
symmetrical) should also be planted 



with the same kind of yellow flowers, 
for the sake of preserving the sym- 
metry. Sometimes the corresponding 
bed of colours may be planted with 
a different species, having flowers of 
the same colour which appear at the 
same time, but in general this cannot 
be done successfully, partly on account 
of the different shades of colour, but 
chiefly because it is scarcely possible 
to get two plants of different species, 
even though they are of the same 
colour and flower at the same time, 
that will prove so exactly alike as to 
have the same aspect. The colours 
which contrast with one another are 
generally well known, particularly to 
ladies ; such as blue and yellow, 
orange and purple, red aud green, &c. ; 
and in practice any two colours which 
do not contrast well naturally, may 
be brought together or near each 
other by the intervention of white, 
or of a very dark colour approaching 
to black. Mignionette forms a good 
substitute for white, though there are 
many white flowers; and Lotus jaco- 
boB^us forms the nearest approach to 
black. As the prevailing colour in 
garden scenery is green in all its dif- 
ferent shades and mixtures, so the 
prevailing colour in parterres ought to 
be red, and all its various shades and 
mixtures. Next to red, yellow, 
orange, and all their various shades 
and mixtures, ought to prevail, as 
contrasting with the blue of the sky, 
and with that of water, should there 
be any near the flower-garden. In 
choosing the colour for any particular 
flower-bed, it is necessary to consider 
what colours are to be placed adjoin- 
ing it ; and in choosing the colour for 
plants to be placed in vases or pots, it 
is necessary to consider the back- 
ground against which they are to be 
seen. For example, an elevated vase 
with the sky for a background should 
never be planted with either blue or 
purple flowers ; but orange or red 



PASSIFLO v RA. 



205 



pa Via. 



flowers in such a vase will have an 
admirable effect. In botanic par- 
terres, only one plant of a species or 
variety is planted ; and that ought to 
be kept perfectly distinct from every 
other by a space an inch or two in 
width being left all round it ; but in 
parterres for effect, the whole surface 
of the bed ought to be covered with 
the same kind of flower, and no part 
of the soil should be seen. Hence, 
for this kind of parterre, low-growing 
plants, and trailers, or creepers, such 
as Nierembergias, and Verbenas, are 
most desirable ; and free-flowering tall 
plants, such as Petunias and Dahlias, 
ought to be pegged down. One of the 
most useful plants for producing white 
in parterres of effect is the common 
Petunia, and for red the different 
kinds of scarlet Pelargonium, or Ver- 
bena Melindres. 

The laying out and planting of 
parterres should always be attended 
to by the ladies of the place, because 
it requires a degree of taste and artist- 
ical feeling which is very seldom to 
be found among some gardeners to a 
sufficient extent; and which, indeed, 
can hardly be expected in many of 
them. 

Pasque Flower.' — See Anemone. 

Passeri'na. — Thymeloea. — Spar- 
row-wort. Most of the species are 
Cape shrubs, which require a green- 
house in England, and should be 
grown in sandy peat ; but one species, 
P. hirsuta, is a native of the South 
of Europe, with small yellow flowers. 
They are all more curious than beau- 
tiful. 

PassifloW. — PasstftorecB. — The 
Passion Flower. The common Pas- 
sion Flower, Passiflora ccerulea, is a 
very ornamental climber, which will 
live in the open air in the climate of 
London, flowering abundantly, and 
ripening fruit every year. It requires 
a good and somewhat loamy soil ; and 
where the soil is light and sandy, a 



pit two feet deep and two feet square 
should be dug out and filled with a 
mixture of loam and peat. This pit 
may appear large for a plant with 
such a slender root and stem as the 
Passion Flower ; but it will not thrive 
unless plenty of room be allowed for 
its roots, and, on this account, only 
the dwarf species can be grown in a 
pot. There are several kinds of Pas- 
sionFlower which require a greenhouse, 
and some very splendid ones that 
cannot be grown without a stove. Of 
the latter, the most beautiful is P. 
Loudoni, the flowers of which are of 
ai most brilliant crimson. Nearly all 
the kinds ripen seed freely, and the 
fruit, which is a kind of berry, is 
eatable but insipid. All the kinds 
hybridize freely, and thus many new 
kinds may be raised. Some of these 
hybrids are very beautiful, particularly 
those raised from P. racemosa ; and 
some of these raised between the 
stove kinds and P. cceriilea are 
nearly hardy. They are all easily 
propagated by cuttings, which should 
be made of the young shoots, and 
struck in sand, in heat, under a bell- 
glass. 

Passion Flower. — See Passiflora. 

Paterso^nia. — Iridecs. — A fibrous- 
rooted genus of very beautiful plants, 
natives of New Holland. They 
should be grown in sandy loam and 
peat, and increased by dividing the 
root or by seeds. They require a 
little protection during winter, and, 
on this account, they are generally 
grown in pots, and kept in a frame or 
greenhouse. 

PaVia. — Hippocastanacece, or 
JEsculacece. The American Horse- 
chestnut or Buckeye. These plants 
differ from the common horse-chestnut 
in their fruit, which is in a smooth 
husk, while that of the horse-chestnut 
is in a rough husk. They derive 
their American name of Buckeye from 
the large brown spot on the side or 



pentste'mon. 



206 



PENTSTE v MON. 



the seed, the botanical name of which 
is the hilum. Several of the Pavias 
are shrubs, and one of them, P. rubra, 
is almost prostrate. They are all very 
handsome, particularly the dark red 
and yellow-flowered kinds, and P. 
macrostachys, which has long fea- 
thery white flowers. They will grow 
best in loamy soil ; and they are all 
propagated either by seeds or layers, 
or by grafting or budding them on 
the common horse-chestnut. 

Peat Bog consists entirely of ve- 
getable matter decayed by being satu- 
rated with moisture, but which re- 
quires to be decomposed or mixed 
with some earthy matter to render it 
fit for vegetation. As it is the tan- 
nin which abounds in the liquid part 
of peat bog, which prevents the de- 
composition of the vegetable fibre it 
contains, it is only necessary to drain 
it of its superabundant moisture to 
convert it into peat earth ; in which 
state it is used in gardening for the 
growth of large American plants, such 
as Rhododendrons, &c, in the open 
ground. Heath-mould is peat mixed 
naturally or artificially with a large 
proportion of fine white sand ; and, in 
this state, it is used in greenhouses for 
growing Heaths, and other Cape and 
Australian shrubs with fine hair-like 
roots, in pots. When greenhouse 
shrubs are directed to be grown in 
peat, it is always understood to mean 
a mixture of peat and silver sand, and 
not black peat alone. 

Pelargonium. — See Gera x nium. 

Pellitory, Common.— Pyrethrum 
Parthenium. — See Pyrethrum. 

Pellitory of Spain. Anthernis 
Pyrethrum See Anthemis. 

Pelo'ria. — A curious variety of the 
common Toad-flax. — See Lina'ria. 

Pentste\mon. — Scrophularinece. 
— The two genera Chelone and Pent- 
stemon are so often confused together, 
that it may be useful here to copy the 
very clear distinctions which Dr. 



Lindley has laid down between them 
for the sake of such of my readers as 
may be botanists. " Chelone has a 
ringent corolla, seated among round 
imbricated bractea? ; its anthers are 
fastened together by a dense mass of 
wool, and its seeds have a membra- 
nous margin. Pentstemon, on the 
contrary, has a bilabiate corolla, with 
only a single bractea, which is at a 
considerable distance from it ; its an- 
thers are distinct from each other, and 
either perfectly smooth or at most 
only slightly pubescent ; and its seeds 
are destitute of a membranous mar- 
gin. The habit of the two genera is 
also strikingly different." To those 
who are not botanists it may be suf- 
ficient to remark, that the flowers of 
the Chelone are short and inflated, 
and crowded together; while those of 
the Pentstemon are long and funnel- 
shaped, and far apart. The Pentste- 
mons are generally hardy or half- 
hardy plants, suffering less from cold 
than from damp during winter ; and 
as they all are very apt to damp off 
at that season, it is a good plan 
to take cuttings of all the kinds 
grown in the open ground in au- 
tumn, and to strike them in sandy 
peat, keeping them in a greenhouse 
or some dry place till spring, 
when they may be planted in the 
flower border. All the Pentste- 
mons are beautiful North American 
perennials, growing from one foot to 
two feet in height, with white, pink, 
blue, or purple flowers, produced from 
March to October. Most of them will 
grow in common garden soil, and the 
rest in loam and peat ; and tbey are 
all readily propagated by division of 
the roots, or by seeds or cuttings. P. 
campanulatus grows a foot and a 
half high, and produces its light purple 
flowers from March to October, and 
P. rbseus produces its red flowers 
during the same period ; P. pulchel- 
lus grows a foot and a half high, and 



PERENNIAL PLANTS. 



207 PERENNIAL PLANTS. 



produces light purple flowers in June 
and July. P. speciosus grows two 
feet high, and produces its beautiful 
blue flowers in August and Septem- 
ber. P. Murrayanus (the hand- 
somest of the genus) grows about two 
feet high, and produces its brilliant 
scarlet flowers in August, but is rather 
tender. P. Cobcea grows about a foot 
and a half or two feet high, and pro- 
duces its large light purple or pinkish 
flowers in August, and is also rather 
tender. P. Scouleri, which grows 
three feet to four feet high, and pro- 
duces its purple flowers from May to 
July, is suffrutescent, and succeeds 
either in the open border or forms a 
beautiful object against a conservative 
wall. On the whole, all the species 
are beautiful, and none of them are of 
difficult culture. 

Perado. — The name for a kind of 
holly, a native of Madeira, Ilex Pe- 
rado ; which is only half-hardy in 
England. It makes, however, a beau- 
tiful tree, which will stand without 
protection in the open air, if it is 
grafted standard high, on a tree of 
the common holly. 

Perennial Plants are those per- 
manent plants which are not woody, 
but which generally die down to the 
ground every year and spring up again 
the year following. There are some, 
however, which are called evergreen 
perennials which never die down to 
the ground, such as Pinks, Carnations, 
several kinds of Saxifrage, &c. Peren- 
nials have the great advantage over 
annuals and biennials, that they do 
not require renewal from seed, but 
are propagated by division of the root 
or division of the plant. Bulbous 
plants are perennials, and they are 
propagated by separating the offsets, 
which may be considered as a kind of 
division of the root. Tuberous-rooted 
plants are propagated by separating 
the tubers ; and when these tubers are 
furnished with eyes like the potato, 



they may be cut into pieces, preserv- 
ing an eye to each ; but when they are 
without eyes or buds excepting at their 
upper extremity, as in the case of the 
Dahlia and the Garden Ranunculus, 
each tuber must be separated from 
the parent plant entire with its bud. 
The great majority of plants which 
ornament the miscellaneous borders of 
a flower-garden are herbaceous peren- 
nials, including under this term bulbs 
and tubers. All the hardy bulbs in 
a flower-border, except those of the 
Hyacinth and the Tulip, should be 
kept as dry as possible during winter, 
as tbey are more liable to be injured 
by wet than cold ; and when they are 
taken up to remove their offsets, &c, 
it should be in autumn when the 
leaves have withered, and they should 
be planted again as soon as practi- 
cable, as they are very apt to be injured 
by damp, &c, if they remain long out 
of the ground. Tubers, on the con- 
trary, such as those of the garden 
ranunculus and the dahlia, must be 
taken up every year as soon as they 
have done flowering, and only re- 
planted just before the growing season 
commences, as, if left in the ground, 
they are very apt to rot ; the bulbs 
of the hyacinth and the tulip thrive 
best when treated in the same man- 
ner. The fibrous-rooted perennials 
should be taken up and divided when 
they are growing too large ; and even 
when division on this account is not 
necessary, most of the kinds are bene- 
fited by taking up and replanting in 
fresh situations occasionally, on the 
principle of the rotation of crops. 
This is, that all plants throw out 
excrementitious matter, which is poi- 
sonous to themselves though whole- 
some for other plants ; and thus, in 
the course of a few years, the ground 
in which plants grow becomes unfit 
for them. Nature has provided a 
remedy for this by elongating the 
roots of all perennial plants, whether 



PERIPLO CA. 



208 



PETRiE'A. 



ligneous or herbaceous, every year ; 
and this is sufficient to prevent trees 
and shrubs in permanent plantations 
from being injured : but from the 
constant digging, &c, in a garden, 
perennial herbaceous plants are very 
seldom permitted to extend their roots 
to a sufficient distance to find suitable 
soil ; and they are therefore bene- 
fited by taking up and replanting, or 
laying down decayed leaves or fresh 
soil over their roots. The season for 
taking up and replanting pei'ennial 
plants should be either in autumn 
after they have done growing, or in 
spring before they begin to grow; and 
if the soil about the roots looks black 
and saturated with moisture, or, as the 
gardeners express it, "sour," the roots 
should be washed quite clean before 
replanting- Where the roots are to 
be divided, it may be done, if they 
are large, with the spade, or if they are 
small with a knife ; and, at all events, 
they should be cut smooth, and 
trimmed (that is, all the bruised parts 
removed) with a sharp knife, before 
replanting. — See Planting. 

Pergula ria Asclepediacece.-- P . 

odoratissima has, perhaps, a sweeter 
fragrance than any other plant known. 
The flowers are green and of no pe- 
culiar beauty, b ut th ey are mostval u able 
for their delightful fragrance, which is 
chiefly perceptible at night. The Per- 
gularia is a stove-climber which should 
be grown in a large pot (a 12) with holes 
in the sides, which should be plunged 
into the centre pit of the stove and kept 
moist. The soil should be sandy loam or 
chopped turf mixed with leaf-mould ; 
andit is propagated by cuttings struck in 
sand with bottom heat, and covered with 
a bell-glass. It should becut back every 
year when it has done flowering ; and it 
will shoot out vigorously in Spring. 

Periplo^ca. — AsclepediacecB. — P. 
grasca is a handsome hardy climber 
with velvet-like flowers of a very sin- 
gular colour, being a dark purplish 



maroon. It will grow in any light 
rich soil, and it is very suitable for 
covering arbours. It is said to be 
fatal to flies, and that a number of 
dead flies may be swept up every day 
in bowers covered by it. It is a na- 
tive of the Canary Isles, and it is 
propagated by layers or cuttings, both 
of which grow freely. 

Peri'skia. — Cactacece. — The Bar- 
badoes or West India Gooseberry. 
This plant bears very little resem- 
blance to the other kinds of Cacti, 
as it has thin leaves and a round stem 
like any other iigueous plant. P. 
aculeatus, the commonest kind, has 
white flowers ; but the flowers of P. 
Bleo are of a beautiful pink. The 
fruit resembles a gooseberry and is 
very good to eat. The Periskias are 
quite hardy, growing in the same 
temperature and requiring nearly the 
same treatment as the Opuntia or 
common Indian fig ; (see Opuntia;) 
and P. aculeatus is frequently used 
as a stock for grafting on it the more 
tender kinds of Cacti. 

Periste^rea — OrchidacecB. — The 
Dove Flower. Beautiful Peruvian 
epiphytes, which should be grown on 
wood. — See Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Periwinkle. — See Vinca. 

Perne'ttya. — Ericacece. — A 
pretty little evergreen bush, a native 
of Terra del Fuego, with white heath- 
like flowers. It is quite hardy, and 
only requires to be grown in a bed of 
peat soil. 

Persica x ria. — See Polygonum. 

Petrje'a. — Verbenacece. — P. vo- 
lubilis is a climbing plant with long 
and beautiful racemes of dark purple 
flowers, and large dark green leaves. 
It is a native of Vera Cruz and Mar- 
tinique, where it ascends to the sum- 
mit of lofty treeSjhanging from branch 
to branch in graceful festoons, and 
producing its flowers in great abund- 
ance. In England, though it has been 
introduced since 1733, it is rarely 



PETUNIA. 



209 



PETU NIA. 



seen in flower for want of proper ma- 
nagement ; but to make it flower 
f reel y, it only requires to be pruned 
like a common grape-vine, that is, to 
have the leading shoots stopped at the 
second joint to make them throw out 
side shoots, and to have these stopped 
in the same manner, in order to have 
what the gardeners call spurs, distri- 
buted over all the branches ; for it is 
on these spurs only that the flowers 
are produced. This plant is called, 
in the Antilles, the Easter Flower, 
because it flowers about Easter ; and 
it is used for decorating the Spanish 
churches at that season. In England 
it generally flowers in August. It 
should be grown in chopped turfy 
loam mixed with a little peat to keep 
it open ; and it is propagated by cut- 
tings struck in heat. 

Petty Whin. — Genista dnglica. 
• — See Genista. 

Petu v nia. — Solanacece — Perhaps 
no plants have made a greater revo- 
lution in floriculture than the Pe- 
tunias. Only a few years ago they were 
comparatively unknown, and now there 
is not a garden, or even a window, that 
can boast of flowers at all, without 
one. P. nyctaginiflora, the common 
white Petunia, was first brought from 
Brazil in J 823 ; and as it was 
tli ought very nearly to resemble the 
common tobacco, it was called Pe- 
tunia from Petun, which is the 
Brazilian name for that plant. This 
plant was cultivated but sparingly, 
and only i n greenhouses as a peren- 
nial, till 1830, when P. viblacea, or 
P. phoenicea, as it is sometimes 
called, was introduced from Buenos 
Ayres by Mr. Tweedie ; and from 
this species, hybridized with P. nyc- 
taginiflbra and P. bicolor, most of the 
innumerable hybrids now in our gar- 
dens have been produced. All these 
kinds are found nearly hardy, and 
they may either be treated as half- 
hardy annuals, being raised on a 



slight hot-bed and planted out in 
May, or they may be sown in the 
open ground as soon as the seed is 
ripe, or in March or April, or suf- 
fered to sow themselves ; care being 
taken in all cases in the open air to 
choose a sheltered situation, and to 
lay a few dead leaves over the bed if 
the weather should be severe. When 
treated as greenhouse plants these 
.Petunias all become shrubby, but 
they will not live more than two or 
three years, and they should be cut 
down as soon as they have done flow- 
ering. When they are wanted to 
grow to a large size, and to cover 
a trellis, &c, like climbing plants, 
they should be planted in the free 
ground, in the conservatory, or in the 
open air, in a light rich soil or, if 
they are kept in pots, allowed plenty 
of room for their roots, as, unless 
this is done, they will become drawn 
up with long weak stems, bare of both 
leaves and flowers, to a considerable 
height. When they are wanted to 
form strong bushy plants for setting 
in a window or keeping in boxes un- 
der a verandah, the end may be at- 
tained by planting them first in very 
small pots and shifting them into 
others, gradually becoming larger and 
larger, always pinching off the flowers, 
and tips of the shoots, till the plants 
have attained the desired form and size, 
when they may be allowed to flower, 
and will form splendid objects. When 
Petunias are wanted to cover a bed 
in a regular flower-garden, they are 
not cut in at all ; but their long 
rambling shoots being pegged down 
all over the bed, a number of side- 
shoots will be sent up, which will 
soon become covered with a mass of 
flowers. The hybrid, P. splendens, 
treated in this manner in Lady Gran- 
ville's flower-garden at Dropmore, 
is, when the sun shines upon it, al- 
most too brilliant to be looked at. 
P. intermedia, sometimes called 
? 



PETUNIA, 



210 



pha'ius. 



Salpiglossis linearis, is a dwarf I 
shrub, a native of Panama, introduced 
in 1832, which requires to be kept 
in a greenhouse in England. 

A great confusion has arisen about 
the name of the purple-flowered Pe- 
tunia, as, when it was first raised at 
Glasgow from the seeds sent home by 
Mr. Tweedie, it was supposed, by Sir 
W. J. Hooker, to be a Salpiglossis ; 
and it was figured and described by 
him under the name of Salpiglassis 
integrifolia in the Botanical Maga- 
zine, t. 3113. It was afterwards 
figured and described by Professor 
Don, in Sweet's British Flower Gar- 
den, second series, t. 172, under the 
name of Nierembergia phozmcea ; 
and lastly, by Dr. Lindley in the 
Botanical Register, t. 1626, as Pe- 
tunia violacea. It is very remark- 
able that there should have been so 
many doubts among botanists as to 
the genus of the purple Petunia, as 
it appears to common observers to 
differ from the white only in colour ; 
and it is also remarkable that it 
should have been first called phce- 
nicea, which signifies crimson, when 
it is decidedly of a violet-coloured 
purple. The flowers of the white 
Petunia, and of all the hybrids raised 
from it, are fragrant, particularly at 
night ; while the few hybrids raised 
between P. violacea and P. bicolor, 
and the numerous seedlings of the 
former species, have no fragrance. P. 
bicolor does not hybridize so freely 
as the other kinds, and it is more 
tender ; but all the dark-mouthed and 
streaked kinds are raised partly from 
it, and they are generally hybrids be- 
tween it and the white Petunia ; the 
latter kind producing the seed, as P. 
bicolor rarely ripens seeds. No plants 
are more easily trained than the 
Petunias ; and, with a little care and 
attention, they may be made to cover 
trellis-work or wire-frames of various 
different forms. 



Peyro'usia. — Irideas. — A genus of 
bulbous-rooted plants with rather 
small flowers, generally in corymbs,, 
which require the usual treatment of 
Cape bulbs. — See Ixia. 

Phace x lia. — HydrophyllecB. — > 
Very curious plants, which produce 
their flowers in one-sided fascicles- 
which unroll themselves slowly. The 
flowers are rather pretty in them- 
selves, but are half hidden by their 
bracts and coarse-growing leaves. All 
the species are natives of America, 
but some are found in California, some 
in Peru, and some even as far south 
as the Straits of Magellan. Some of 
the species are perennials, and others- 
biennial or annual. The Californian 
species are annuals with blue flowers, 
but the South American kinds are 
biennials or perennials with pink 
flowers. They all grow freely in any 
common garden soil. 

Pha'ius.- — Orchidacece. — P. al~ 
bus, which is an exceedingly beauti- 
ful East Indian epiphyte, is remark- 
able for the dry and withered appear- 
ance which it presents when it enters 
into its dormant state. At this period 
it sheds its leaves, and its stems be- 
come covered with a dry brownish 
skin, which makes them look exactly 
as if they were dead. It should then 
be removed to a cool situation, where 
the heat is not greater than 40° or 
45° of Fahrenheit, and kept with only 
enough water to prevent it from dying. 
In the course of a few weeks, a young 
shoot will begin to push out from the 
crown of the root ; and as soon as 
this is perceived, the plant should be 
repotted in sandy peat, (the pot being 
first nearly half-filled with potsherds,) 
and removed to the orchideous house, 
where it should be exposed to a strong 
heat and syringed tw T ice a day with a 
copious supply of water to the roots 
till the appearance of the flowers, 
when it should be removed to a 
cooler atmosphere, say that of a 



PHILADELPHIA. 



211 



PHLO'x. 



drawing-room, and be no longer 
syringed. 

PhaljENo'psis. — Orchidacece. — 
The white Butterfly Plant. This 
beautiful plant, which certainly re- 
sembles a white butterfly as much as 
O. papilio does a tortoiseshell one, 
should be grown on a piece of wood 
with the bark on, hung from the roof 
of the hothouse, the roots being 
wrapped in moss and tied on the 
branch. It flowers profusely, but it 
is very difficult to propagate. — See 
Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Pharbitis. — Convolvulaceee. — 
The new name given by M. Choisy 
to Convolvulus major and some few 
other species. The difference between 
this new genus and the genus Con- 
volvulus, consists in the shape of the 
stigma, and in the number of cells in 
the capsule. 

Phaseo'lus. — Leguminosce. — The 
Scarlet-runner, P. rnultijlorus, was 
cultivated at its first introduction as a 
garden flower ; and it is still often 
grown for ornament in small street- 
gardens, by sowing the seeds in the 
ground, and training the plants up 
pieces of packthread, fastened to a 
hook or nail in a wall at one end, 
and to a peg stuck in the ground at 
the other. There is a variety with 
red and white flowers which is very 
ornamental. 

Philadelphus. — Philadelphea. — 
The Syringa, or Mock Orange. North 
American hardy shrubs, common in 
shrubberies, the flowers of which 
smell like those of the orange, and 
the leaves taste like cucumbers. It 
is rather remarkable that one of the 
English names of these plants is 
Syringa ; which is the botanic name 
of the lilac, to which they have not 
the slightest affinity. There are many 
species ; some of which have very 
large and handsome flowers, and some 
bear flowers without any fragrance. 
They are all quite hardy, and will 



grow in any soil or situation ; and 
they may all be propagated by seeds, 
layers, cuttings, or division of the 
root. 

Phillyrea. — OleinecB. — Evergreen 
bushy shrubs, natives of Europe and 
some parts of Asia, which are very 
useful in British gardens, from their 
shining dark green leaves, and small 
fragrant white flowers. They are often 
confounded with the Alaternus, from 
which, however, they are botanically 
quite distinct, as that shrub belongs 
to Rhamnacese. The Phillyrea is 
generally found in the shrubberies 
of old mansions, as from the time 
of Gerard, till Evelyn so warmly 
patronised the Holly, the Phillyrea 
and the Alaternus were the principal 
evergreens planted in British gardens ; 
and both were great favourites for 
topiary work, as no plants are clipped 
more easily into figures of animals, 
&c. All the kinds are quite hardy, 
and will grow in any soil or situation ; 
and they may be all propagated by 
seeds, layers, or cuttings. 

Phlo x mis. — Labiate. — The Jeru- 
salem Sage. Perennial and shrubby 
plants with large coarse-growing 
glaucous leaves, greatly resembling 
those of the common sage, and yellow 
or purple flowers disposed in a whorl 
round the joints. All the species 
will grow in any light rich soil; and 
they are propagated by layers or 
cuttings, or by dividing the root. 

Phlo'x. — Polemoniacece — A ge- 
nus of beautiful North American 
perennials and one annual, of which 
there are some species in flower 
almost every month in the year. They 
thrive best in sandy loam and peat, 
but many of the species will grow in 
any common soil. Phlox setacea is 
a low trailing perennial, which pro- 
duces its flesh-coloured flowers in 
April and May. P. nivalis is of 
equally low growth, and it produces 
its white flowers at the same period, 
p 2 



PHLO'x. 



12 



PHOTINIA. 



P. subulata seldom exceeds three 
inches in length, and it produces its 
beautiful flesh-coloured flowers from 
April to June. P. canadensis has 
blue flowers, which are produced in 
April and May, and it grows almost 
one foot in height. P. divaricata 
produces light blue flowers from April 
to June, and grows about the same 
height as the former species. P. 
ovdta and P. ovata Listoniana grow 
about one foot high, and produce 
purple flowers from May to August, 
and P. pilbsa grows about one foot iu 
height, and produces its pink flowers 
in May and June. There are above a do- 
zen other species equally low in growth 
and prolific in flowers in spring or iu 
the beginning of summer ; and there 
are a number of species which grow 
from two to four feet in height, and 
flower in July, August, and Septem- 
ber. Of these may be mentioned 
P. paniculata alba, and paniculata 
rubra ; P. acuminata, which grows 
four feet high and produces pink 
flowers from May to August. P. }>y- 
ramidalis and its several varieties, 
P. latifolia and P. maculata, grow 
four feet high, and produce pink or 
red flowers from July to September; 
and P. muWflorus, which has a long 
spike of white flowers about a foot and 
a half high, flowers nearly all the sum- 
mer. The only annual species is P. 
Drummondii and its varieties, which 
are plants of surpassing beauty raised 
annually from seeds or cuttings in light 
sandy soil, and admirably adapted for 
covering flower-beds or growing in 
pots. When raised from seeds, this 
species should be treated like a ten- 
der annual ; and after being raised in 
a hotbed in February or March, it 
should be turned out into the open 
garden about the middle of May ; 
or it may be sown in April or May 
in the open ground. In fine seasons 
it ripens seeds; but where it does not, 
it may be preserved through the win- 



ter by striking cuttings in autumn, 
and preserving them in pots placed on 
the front shelf of a greenhouse or in a 
frame. The varieties vary from pur- 
ple to light rose, and generally come 
true from seed. On the whole, the 
genus Phlox is one of the most beauti- 
ful of herbaceous plants, and a garden 
ought to be no more without some 
of the species than it ought to be 
without roses or bulbs. 

Phcbnix. — Palmece. — P. dactylU 
fera, the Date Palm, is a well-known 
stove plant, which should be grown 
in a sandy loam. Young plants may 
be raised from the stones of the dates 
sold in the shops, and if kept in suffi- 
cient heat they will grow freely ; 
though the trees must be of consider- 
able age and size before they bear 
fruit. 

Phormium. — AsphodelecB. — P. 
tenax, the New Zealand flax, is a 
very singular plant, with large 
bunches of orange flowers, and very 
long, broad, lily-like leaves, the fibres 
of which are so strong, that they are 
used in ISew Zealand for making 
baskets, and various other articles in 
their coarse state, and in the same 
manner as flax for making sails, &c. 
In England the plant is at present 
rare, but it may be grown in a green- 
house in a very rich sandy loam fre- 
quently watered ; the principal objec- 
tion to its culture being the great size 
of its leaves, which occupy too much 
space for it to be grown in a small 
house. 

Photinia. — Rosacea. — A very 
beautiful evergreen shrub or low tree, 
formerly called Crataegus glabra, 
which is nearly hardy, but thrives 
best when trained against a wall in a 
sheltered situation. The soil should 
be sandy loam ; and the plants are 
propagated sometimes by cuttings of 
the ripened wood, but more fre- 
quently by grafting or inarching on 
some of the hardy kinds of Crataegus. 



PHYTEUMA. 



213 



PIPINGS. 



Phylica Rhamnacece. — Pretty 

little heath-like plants, natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope, with narrow 
leaves, and little terminal heads of 
fragrant white flowers, which begin 
to appear in autumn and continue 
during winter and early spring. They 
are generally grown in a greenhouse, 
and require the same treatment as the 
Cape heaths. 

Physa^lis. — Solanacece. — The 
Winter Cherry. Dwarf shrubby and 
herbaceous plants, with showy flowers. 
The fruit is a bright red berry in a 
bladdery calyx; and when the calyx 
has been macerated by soaking it in 
water, it has a very pretty effect. 
Some of the species are shrubby, but 
the greater part are herbaceous plants ; 
they are generally only half-hardy, 
and they succeed best when grown in 
sandy loam. 

Physianthus AsclepiadecB. — A 

climbing plant from Mexico, which 
has proved hardy in the London Hor- 
ticultural Society's gardens. It has 
small whitish flowers, and very large 
and handsome fleshy seed-vessels, 
which look like oval gourds, and 
which, when opened, are found to 
contain the seeds enveloped in a 
quantity of fine silky substance, which 
looks like the cocoons of silk-worms, 
after the fine silk has been spun 
off. The Physianthus will grow 
in any common soil 5 but it should 
always be trained against a wall, as 
otherwise the large fruit will be too 
heavy for the slender branches. 

Physoste v gia. — Labiates. — P. im- 
bricdta is a beautiful plant, with 
pale purple flowers, nearly allied to 
Dracocephalum , which only requires 
the usual treatment of hardy peren- 
nials. P. truncata is an annual 
species with pale pink flowers. Both 
are natives of Mexico, and will grow 
in the open ground, in any common 
garden soil. 

Phyteuma Campanulacece. — 



Herbaceous plants, generally with 
dark blue flowers, which will grow in 
any ordinary soil, and which are in- 
creased by dividing the roots. 

Phytola'cca. — Chenopodiaeece, or 
Phytolace<s P. decdndra, the Vir- 
ginian Poke, is a fine vigorous-grow- 
ing plant, which is ornamental from 
the abundance of its black berries, 
but which, from its large leaves and 
spreading habit of growth, requires a 
great deal of room. It should be 
grown in very rich soil, and it is in- 
creased by seeds or cuttings. There 
are several species, all of which have 
black berries, containing a deep red 
juice, which is said to be used in Por- 
tugal to colour Port wine. 

Picottee. — A kind of carna- 
tion with a narrow dark -coloured 
margin to the petals, or with the 
petals covered with small brown or 
dark purple dots. For the culture, 
see Dianthus. 

Pilewort. See FrcAiiiA. 

Pimele v a. — Thymelacecs. — Aus- 
tralian shrubs which require a richer 
soil than most other plants from that 
country. They should be grown in 
a greenhouse in England ; in a soil 
composed of sandy peat and loam, 
mixed with vegetable mould, or part 
of an old hot-bed. They should have 
plenty of light, and they should be 
kept regularly watered. They are 
propagated by cuttings. 

Pimpernel. See Anagallis. 

Pink. See Dianthus. 

Pipings. — Cuttings of Pinks and 
Carnations are called pipings ; because 
these plants have tubular stems ; and 
when separated at a joint, the parts 
are pulled asunder, instead of being 
cut. This is done in autumn, by 
taking a shoot that has nearly done 
growing, in one hand, and pulling the 
upper part of it off just above a pair 
of leaves, so as to separate it at the 
socket formed by the axils of the 
leaves, leaving the part pulled off 



PITS. 



21 



4 



PITS. 



with a tubular or pipe -like termina- 
tion. Some florists then cut off the 
tips of the leaves, but others leave 
them entire, as shown in fig. 23, and 
in both cases the pipings must be struck 

FIG. 23. f 




PIPING OF A CARNATION. 

in sand "with a hand-glass fixed firmly 
over them. It may be here observed, 
that the herbage of Pinks and Carna- 
tions is called the grass ; and that 
when a plant is in a vigorous state of 
growth, it is said to have the grass 
fine. 

Piptanthus. — Lec/uminosce. — A 
handsome half-hardy tree with large 
yellow pea-flowers. It will grow in 
any common soil, but it requires a 
slight protection during winter. 

Pista'cia. — Terebinthacece. — The 
Pistaccia Nut tree. Very handsome 
trees, which abound in turpentine in 
their native country, but which are 
only half-hardy in England. 

Pits are structures either sunk in 
the ground, or raised above it with 
brick walls on all sides, and with a 
glass cover. For the purpose of pre- 
serving plants from the frost, they do 



not require flues, beds of tan or dung, 
or any other artificial mode of heating ; 
but they do require artificial heat 
when they are employed for preserv- 
ing greenhouse plants, for growing 
hothouse plants, or for forcing hardy 
herbaceous flowers or shrubs into pre- 
mature bloom. They are also used 
as a substitute for hotbeds in bring- 
ing forward tender annuals, and in 
raising seeds. For all these purposes 
some mode of artificial heating is re- 
quired ; and this may either be accom- 
plished by smoke-flues, the circula- 
tion of hot water in pipes of iron or 
earthenware, or by the introduction 
of beds of fermenting materials, such 
as tan or dung. The most conve- 
nient mode of heating is unquestion- 
ably by hot water, because by this 
mode there is less danger of produ- 
cing excessive heat ; and the heal 
from being accompanied by moisture, 
is more congenial to vegetation than 
the dry heat of smoke flues. Where 
hot-water pipes cannot be conveniently 
procured, or in the given locality are 
more expensive than smoke-flues, 
then these may be adopted ; taking 
care to supply moisture to the at- 
mosphere of the pit by placing pans 
of water on the flues ; or by keeping 
the surface of the soil, or the path, if 
there be one, moist by the supply of 
water from time to time. The con- 
struction and the heating of pits are so 
well known to gardeners, builders, 
and ironmongers, that very little need 
be said on the subject. They may 
be of any convenient length — six feet, 
eight feet or ten feet in width, three 
feet high above the surface of the 
ground behind, and of such a height 
in front as that the slope of the glass 
may form an angle with the horizon 
of between 20° and 30°. The depth 
to which the pit is sunk in the soil 
will depend on the uses to which it is 
to be applied. When it is merely to 
preserve plants from the frost of 



PITIO'SPORUM. 



215 



PLANTING. 



•winter, it need not be sunk into the 
soil at all ; but when it is to contain 
a bark-bed, the depth of that bed, 
which may be between two feet and 
three feet, should be excavated from 
the soiL When the pit is to be 
entered by the gardener, in order that 
he may walk upright there should be 
a path immediately under the back 
wall, and this will require the pit to 
■be at least seven feet in depth. In 
this, and in all other cases, sufficient 
drainage must be provided ; and if the 
walls and floor are built and laid 
hollow, the entrance of moisture and 
the escape of heat will be prevented. 
In general, pits which are heated by 
tan or dung have the material placed 
in the beds inside ; but in some cases 
it is placed around the pit, in what are 
called linings between two feet and 
three feet inside, and as high as the 
walls of the pit outside, so that the 
heat penetrates through the wall to 
the dung or soil within ; and to facili- 
tate this, the lower parts of the walls 
are built with open brickwork. Pits 
of this kind are called Macphail's pits, 
and are admirably adapted for growing 
•hothouse plants, and for every de- 
scription of forcing. 

Pitcairnia. — Bromeliaceee. — 
Handsome herbaceous stove plants, 
with pine. apple-like leaves, and very 
singular scarlet or pinkish flowers. 
They should all be grown in sandy 
peat and rieh loam. 

Pitcher Plant. See Nepenthes 
and Sarracenia. 

Pitto'sporum. — Pittosporece. — 
Handsome evergreen bushy shrubs, 
which require a slight protection 
during winter. P. Tobira is a native 
of China, which has been known to 
live out of doors for several years in a 
sheltered situation, but which should 
be protected from very severe frosts. 
It should be grown in a rich light 
soil ; and it is propagated by cuttings, 
which should be struck in sand under 



a hand-glass. Most of the species 
have terminal tufts of white fragrant 
flowers, and broadish shining dark 
green leaves ; and they are all very 
ornamental. 

Plantain Tree. See Musa. 

Planting is the operation of in- 
serting plants in the soil, either in 
the free ground or in pots. The sim- 
plest kind of planting is that which 
consists in removing small seedling 
plants, or such as have been struck 
from cuttings or layers ; and this is 
commonly performed by making a 
round hole with a dibber, and putting 
in the root of the plant to the same 
depth as it had been covered with 
earth before, and making it fast by 
thrusting the dibber into the firm 
earth beside the hole and pressing it 
to the root. In this operation, the 
great art is to make the root fast at 
its lower extremity. Thus, in plant- 
ing eommon seedlings of annuals or 
even cabbage-plants, if the earth be 
pressed close to the root at the upper 
part, and not at the extreme points, 
the success will hardly be complete ; 
and in tender plants, or in a dry sea- 
son, a failure will be the result. In 
planting plants of a larger size, a 
small pit should be opened by the 
spade or the trowel ; the bottom of the 
pit having been formed into a cone or 
small hill, the plant should be placed 
in the centre-, and the roots spread 
out equally over it on every side. The 
roots are then to be covered with soil 
gently pressed over them ; and the 
operation must be finished by water- 
ing so as to consolidate the soil 
equally, without making it firmer on 
one part of the roots than another. 
If the soil should have been previously 
dug, trenched, or loosened to the 
depth of a foot, or probably two feet 
or three feet, the pit should not be 
made so deep as to throw the neck or 
collar of the plant below, or even on 
a level with the surface, when the 



PLANTING. 



216 



PLANTING. 



soil is consolidated by watering. On 
the contrary, it must be left of such 
a height above it, as that when the 
soil is finally consolidated by its own 
gravity, influenced by the weather, 
the neck shall still be above the ge- 
neral surface of the ground, and the 
plant stand on a small hillock. This 
condition of planting cannot be too 
carefully attended to ; for nothing can 
be more injurious to transplanted 
plants than having the neck buried 
more than it was in a natural state. 
Nothing is more common than too 
deep planting ; and the temptation 
to it is the greater because deep- 
planted plants, from having the roots 
more accessible to moisture, are more 
certain of growing the first year, and 
are less in want of mulching to ex- 
clude the heat and drought, and of 
staking to prevent them from being 
moved by the wind. Hence, in 
planting trees or shrubs, it is of the 
greatest importance, not only with a 
view to their future growth, hut also 
to their natural appearance above the 
surface, to have them planted on 
little hillocks, greater or less in height 
according as the soil may have been 
moved to a greater or less depth, 
either in the operation of digging the 
pit in firm soil, or in planting in soil 
which has been moved by digging, or 
trenching, or otherwise. In small 
gardens it is generally desirable, for 
the sake of producing immediate 
effect, to plant plants of considerable 
size ; and in this case, in addition to 
the precautions which have been al- 
ready mentioned, it is desirable to 
plant by what is called fixing with 
water. This operation is performed 
in the following manner : the hole 
being properly prepared, the plant 
placed in it, and the roots spread out 
on every side and extended as far as 
they will go, one person holds the 
plant upright, a second sprinkles earth 
over the roots, and a third supplies 



water from a watering-pot with a rose 
on if the plant be small, and without 
a rose if it be a tree of six feet or 
eight feet in height, holding the pot 
as high above his head as his arms 
will reach. The weight of the water 
coming down from such a height con- 
solidates the soil about the roots, and 
fixes them in such a manner, as to 
render the plant, if it has been care- 
fully taken up, almost in the same state 
as it was in before removing. Large 
trees or shrubs, if planted in this man- 
ner in the autumn, and staked, where 
there is danger from high winds, 
will grow, and even flower and fruit, 
the following year, as well as if they 
had not been removed. In this kind 
of planting with large plants, the hil- 
lock, left after the operation is finished, 
should not be less than a foot or 
eighteen inches above the surround- 
ing surface ; and to lessen evapora- 
tion during the ensuing summer, the 
hillock should, if possible, be covered 
with short litter, moss, turf turned 
upside down, or even small stones, for 
the first year. In staking large plants 
of this kind, the stakes should be 
placed close to the stem of the plant, 
in which position they are much less 
likely to injure the fibrous-roots than 
when placed at a distance from the 
tree ; and the stakes should be made 
fast to the stem of the plant by a 
piece of straw or hay rope, or by a 
piece of twisted matting, or any kind 
of cord ; the part of the stem to 
which the stake is tied, having pre- 
viously had a small handful of straw, 
or moss, or mat, bound round it to 
prevent the tie from galling the bark 
of the stem, and preventing its in- 
crease during summer. These stakes 
should remain for a year or sometimes 
two years, according to the size of the 
plant and its facility of making roots, 
In general, the sooner the stakes are 
taken away the better; because the 
motion of the stem by the wind is es- 



PLANTING. 



217 



PLANTING. 



sential to its increasing in thickness. 
In this matter much must he left to 
the discretion of the planter, who 
must always bear in mind that a 
staked plant is in a most unnatural 
position ; and also, that if the tree 
should lean somewhat to one side for 
some years after planting, it will ulti- 
mately become more or less erect ; 
and that a strong, vigorous-looking 
plant leaning a little to one side, af- 
fords a greater evidence of its being 
secure and in sound health, than a 
straight erect plant kept in that posi- 
tion by a stake. In the case of plant- 
ing trees with stems three or four 
inches in diameter in exposed situa- 
tions, two or three stakes may be used 
placed at a short distance from the 
base of the stem and leaning towards 
it ; and where they are made fast, 
they should be joined by matting, 
hay-ropes, or some other soft material, 
so as not to injure or confine the bark. 
Before transplanting trees of a timber 
size, the main roots are frequently 
cut at the distance of five feet or six 
feet from the stem a year previously 
to transplanting ; in cousequence of 
which, they send out fibres which in 
the course of the summer become 
small roots, so that when transplanted, 
the tree, instead of drawing its prin- 
cipal nourishment from spongioles at 
the distance of twenty feet or perhaps 
thirty feet from the stem, is enabled 
to draw it from the distance of six or 
eight feet, and thus to continue grow- 
ing, though not with the same degree 
of vigour as if it had not been trans- 
planted. Some kinds of trees, when 
of a large size, such as the Sycamore, 
the Lime, the Horse-chesnut, and a 
few others, may be transplanted with- 
out this precaution ; but in this case, 
the operation must be performed in 
autumn as soon as the leaves have 
dropped, in order to give the roots 
time to form some fibres during the 
winter; and the greater the distance 



from the stem at which the roots 
are cut, the greater will be the success. 
Large trees with wide-spreading roots 
when transplanted, seldom require to 
be staked, because the roots form a 
broad base, which prevents the stem 
from being blown to one side. "Where 
there is danger anticipated from high 
winds, the tree may be secured by 
three guy-ropes tied to the upper 
part of the stem, and made fast to 
stakes driven into the ground at such 
a distance from the tree as that the 
ropes may form an angle with the 
ground of 45° ; or the stronger roots 
may be kept in their position by 
stakes driven into the ground with 
their heads beneath the surface of the 
soil, the main roots being made fast 
to them by cords. 

In all cases of transplanting deci- 
duous trees, with the exception of the 
Beech and the Hornbeam, some 
pruning should be given to the top, so 
as to lessen the number of branches 
and leaves which are to be supplied 
by the root. The quantity of branches 
that are required to be removed will 
depend partly on the kind of tree, 
and partly on the intention of the 
planter, but mainly on the climate 
and soil. Beech trees, as already 
mentioned, are injured when trans- 
planted by having many branches re- 
moved, and often die in consequence. 
Sycamores and all the Acer tribe, 
having numerous fibres near the main 
stem, require but little pruning of the 
head. The same may be said of the 
Yew and the Holly, the Lime and 
the Elm. "When the object of the 
planter is to produce immediate effect 
by a bulky head, all the branches may 
be left on, whatever may be the kind 
of tree ; hut in that case the tree will 
produce only leaves for a number of 
years, or if it produce shoots they will 
not exceed a few lines in length. 
Ultimately, if the soil be poor and dry, 
the tree will probably perish ; but if 



PLANTING. 



21 



8 



PLANTING. 



the soil should he good and moist, 
and the climate also moist, the tree 
will, in time, become vigorous, and pro- 
duce shoots, Where the climate is 
moist, and the soil good, and also 
moist, any tree may he transplanted 
without pruning the branches ; be- 
cause the fibres it will produce in 
such a soil and climate will be suffi- 
cient to supply the moisture trans- 
pired by the leaves. But where the 
climate is dry and the soil also dry, 
no large tree can be safely transplanted 
with all its branches; because the 
transpiration by the leaves will be 
much greater than the moisture which 
can possibly be absorbed by the roots. 
Hence, in the dry climate of the Con- 
tinent, all trees with stems above an 
inch or two in diameter have their 
branches entirely cut off, always ex- 
cepting the Beech and Hornbeam, the 
Yew, and all the Pine and Fir, and 
Cypress tribes. Even in this country, 
in Evelyn's time, this was the prac- 
tice ; and the late Sir Joseph Banks, 
when he planted groups of trees with 
stems five inches or six inches in 
diameter on a portion of Hounslow 
Heath, which was allotted to his resi- 
dence there, planted only stumps ten 
feet or twelve feet high, which stumps 
are now finely-headed trees, conspi- 
cuous from the road in passing Spring 
Grove. Much has of late been 
written on the subject of transplant- 
ing large trees by Sir Henry Steuart 
and others ; and the practice has been 
recommended of leaving on the whole 
of the head. Experience, however, 
has proved that this can only be done 
with advantage under certain circum- 
stances. 

Planting in pots, when the plants 
are of the very smallest size, may be 
effected by a small dibber, as in plant- 
ing in the common soil ; but it is more 
frequently done on the principle of 
planting in pits ; that is, the pot being 
properly drained by a few potsherds 



being placed over the hole in the 
bottom of the pot, and an inch or 
two of soil placed over them accord- 
ing to the size of the pot, the young 
seedling or newly-struck cutting is 
held with one hand, and soil sprinkled 
over the roots by a trowel with the 
other. When the pot is filled, the 
soil is consolidated by lifting the pot 
with both hands a few inches high, 
and setting down once or twice with 
a slight jar; afterwards supplying 
water so as to moisten the whole of 
the soil in the pot. The thumb, or a 
potting-stick, should previously be 
passed round the inner edge of the 
pot so as to firm the soil round the 
rim ; otherwise the water is liable to 
run down round the edge of the pot, with- 
out moistening the soil in the middle. 
Immediately after planting, the pot 
should be set in a position where it 
can be shaded during sunshine ; but 
on no account should tender plants be 
shaded during cloudy weather, or 
covered with an opaque covering 
during night, unless for the purpose 
of protecting them from cold. Of 
course the after treatment of every 
plant in a pot must depend on its 
nature ; all that it is necessary at 
present to treat of is the manner of 
planting. 

Transplanting plants which have 
already been grown in pots is either 
effected by removing the ball or mass 
of earth containing the roots entire, 
or by gently breaking the ball in 
pieces and stretching the roots out on 
every side. When the ball is not 
broken, the operation is called shift- 
ing. Plants are often reared in pots 
on account of their tender nature 
when young, or for the convenience 
of transporting them to a distance, 
though they are intended ultimately 
to be planted in the open ground. In 
almost all cases of this kind, the ball 
should be broken, and the pit having 
been prepared with the greatest care, 



PLANTING. 



2 



9 



PLANTING. 



as in common planting, the fibrous 
roots should be stretched out in it as 
far as they will go on every side. 
Hence, a plant which has been grown 
in a very small pot, when it is to be 
transplanted into the open garden 
may often require a pit three feet or 
four feet in diameter. There is not 
perhaps an operation in the whole 
circle of gardening that affords a 
higher gratification to the planter, 
than transplanting plants from pots 
when the pits and soil are properly 
prepared, and the roots carefully 
stretched out without being bruised 
or broken. In consequence of the 
extraordinary sources of nutriment 
which are thus afforded to the plant, 
and of the greatly increased power 
given to the roots, the shoots which 
it makes the first year are extraordi- 
nary, and evince a degree of vigour 
which none but a gardener of expe- 
rience could believe possible. On the 
other hand, when a plant in a pot is 
turned out into a pit, however well 
the soil may be prepared, if the roots 
are not stretched out, it may remain 
for many years without growing much 
faster than it previously did in the 
pot. This is often the case with the 
more rare species of the Pine and Fir 
tribe, and with Magnolias and other 
plants kept in pots by nurserymen ; 
and it is further attended by this evil, 
that the plants are easily blown 
to one side by the wind. In the 
case of surface-rooted plants, such as 
Pines, if they have been some years 
in the pot, they never send out roots 
sufficient to keep them upright ; and 
hence the Pinaster and Stone Pine, 
which are almost always kept in pots 
in British nurseries, are generally 
found leaning to one side in planta- 
tions in this country. It is necessary, 
however, to make the distinction be- 
tween plants newly planted in pots, 
and those which have been in pots 
for two or three years ; for the former 



may perhaps have few roots which 
have reached the sides of the pot, as 
in the case of China Roses struck 
and potted early in the season and 
planted out the same summer, and 
which, of course, may be planted out 
without breaking the ball. The 
same observation will apply to all 
other plants in pots that have not 
their fibrous roots somewhat woody ; 
and also to all hair-rooted plants, such 
as Heaths, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, 
Arbutus, and in general to all the 
Ericaceae, which having at no age 
large woody roots, may always be 
transplanted from pots with the balls 
entire. 

It may here be observed, that large 
shrubs of almost all the Ericaceae may 
be transplanted at almost any age with 
less danger than most other plants, as 
from the slender and fibrous nature 
of the great mass of their roots, they 
are less liable to injury than woody- 
rooted plants. All that is required 
is that they should be taken up with 
a large ball of earth, and that when 
replanted they should be abundantly 
supplied with water. 

Hitherto nothing has been said 
especially applicable to evergreens, 
whether in the open ground or in 
pots. These being at every season of 
the year more or less in a growing 
state, it is always desirable to trans- 
plant them with balls ; and it is only 
young plants of evergreens, such as 
seedling Hollies, Portugal Laurels, 
and young cuttings or layers of the 
common Laurel, Laurustinus, Sweet 
Bay, Phillyrea, Alaternus, Junipers, 
&c, which can be sent to any dis-> 
tance with a certainty of growing 
without balls. The common Holly, 
when it is above three or four feet 
in height, requires to be taken up 
with a ball, and that ball carefully 
preserved by being tied up in a mat— 
or, according to the Dutch practice, 
put into a basket of wicker-work. 



PLANTING. 



220 



PLEASURE-GROUND. 



The same remark will apply to Ar- 
borvitae, Junipers, Arbutus, Rhodo- 
dendrons, Box, Phillyreas, and even 
the common Laurel. 

The best season for transplanting 
all deciduous trees and shrubs is the 
autumn ; because the plant has time 
to produce some fibres, and accommo- 
date itself to its new soil and situation 
during the winter, so as to be pre- 
pared to grow freely the following 
spring. Evergreens may also be 
transplanted in autumn, or at any 
time in open moist weather during 
autumn, winter, or early spring. In 
dry or frosty weather it is always 
dangerous to remove them ; because 
the sap in an evergreen is more or 
less in motion at every season of the 
year, and the plant is never so com- 
pletely dormant as in the case of 
deciduous trees. Formerly it was 
thought that the best season for re- 
moving evergreens was in the latter 
part of summer, shortly after they 
had completed their year's growth ; 
but this doctrine was only acted upon 
in the time of Miller and before, 
when there were comparatively few 
species of evergreens in British gar- 
dens, and it has been recently found 
by Mr. M'Nab, (see his Treatise on 
Transplanting Evergreens^) that 
evergreens may be transplanted with 
much greater safety in mild weather 
in autumn or winter, than at any 
other period of the year. Herba- 
ceous plants may in general be trans- 
planted at any season when they are 
not in flower or coming into flower ; 
but the safest time for perennials is in 
autumn, after they have ripened their 
seeds and are going into a dormant 
state. Biennial and annual plants are 
best transplanted when quite young, 
or after they have obtained their 
second or third pair of leaves; and 
seedlings in general may be treated in 
a similar manner. In all cases of 
planting, (excepting with Cacti and 



other succulents,) the plants should 
be watered as soon as they are fixed in 
their new situations ; and when prac- 
ticable, they should be shaded for a 
few days from the heat of the sun. 

Platyste x mon. — Ranunculacece. 
— One of the Californian annuals, 
with cream-coloured flowers and 
woolly glaucous leaves. For the cul- 
ture, see Californian Annuals. 

Platysti'gma. — Papaveracece. — 
A very curious little plant with the 
petals alternately white and yellow. 
For the culture, see Californian 
Annuals. 

Pleasure-Ground is that portion of 
a country residence which is devoted 
to ornamental purposes, in contradis- 
tinction to those parts which are ex- 
clusively devoted to utility or profit, 
such as the kitchen-garden, the farm, 
and the park. In former times, 
when the geometrical style of laying 
out grounds prevailed, a pleasure- 
ground consisted of terrace-walks, a 
bowling-green, a labyrinth, a bosquet, 
a small wood, a shady walk commonly 
of nut-trees, but sometimes a shady 
avenue, with ponds of water, fountains, 
statues, &c. In modern times the 
pleasure-ground consists chiefly of a 
lawn of smoothly-shaven turf, inter- 
spersed with beds of flowers, groups 
of shrubs, scattered trees, and, accord- 
ing to circumstances, with a part or 
the whole of the scenes and objects 
which belong to a pleasure-ground in 
the ancient style. The main portion of 
the pleasure-ground is always placed 
on that side of the house to which the 
drawing-room windows open, and it 
extends in front and to the right and 
left more or less, according to the 
extent of the place ; the park, or that 
part devoted exclusively to pasture 
and scattered trees, being always on 
the entrance front. There is no 
limit to the extent either of the plea- 
sure-ground or the park, and no ne- 
cessary connexion between the size of 



PLEASURE-GROUND. 



221 



PODOLEPIS. 



the house and the size of the pleasure- 
ground. A small house and a large 
garden was the wish of the poet Cow- 
ley ; and the largest parks are some- 
times attached to very small houses and 
small pleasure-grounds, and the con- 
trary. A pleasure-ground in modern 
times differs from that prevalent at 
any former period in including all the 
scenes and sources of enjoyment and 
recreation of the ancient style as well 
as the modern. For example, ad- 
joining the drawing- room front there 
is a terrace or terraces, with or with- 
out an architectural flower-garden, 
decorated with statues, vases, foun- 
tains, and other sculptural or archi- 
tectural objects. Beyond this, or 
connected with it to the right and left, 
there may be a lawn with flowers, 
shrubs, groups of trees, ponds, lakes, 
rockwork, summerhouses, or green- 
house, an orangery, and sometimes a 
botanic garden. Walks may stretch 
away on either, or on both sides, to 
a shrubbery, which, in the present 
day, is commonly framed into an 
Arboretum and Fruticetum, contain- 
ing all the hardy trees and shrubs 
which the extent of the scene will 
admit of: and in the course of the 
walk through this scene there may 
be rustic structures ; such as wood- 
houses, mosshouses, roothouses, rock- 
houses, or cyclopsean cottages ; Swiss 
cottages, common covered seats, ex- 
posed seats of wood or stone, temples, 
ruins, grottos, caverns, imitations of 
ancient buildings ; and, in short, there 
is scarcely an architectural object ca- 
pable of being rendered ornamental 
and a shelter from the sun, the wind, 
or the rain, which may not find a 
place. To know all the different 
scenes which may be introduced in 
a pleasure-ground in modern times, 
it is only necessary to visit such a 
place as Alton Towers, in Stafford- 
shire, where, in addition to the objects 
mentioned, maybe seen pagodas, her- 



mitages, an imitation of Stonehenge 
and of other Druidical monuments, 
shellwork, gilt domes and huge blocks 
of mossy rock, bridges, viaducts, and 
many other curious objects. In small 
places of an acre or two, the most in- 
teresting objects which may be intro- 
duced in a pleasure-ground, are col- 
lections of trees, shrubs, and herba- 
ceous plants, which may always be 
arranged to combine as much pictu- 
resque beauty and general effect as if 
there were only the few kinds of trees 
and shrubs planted which were for- 
merly in use in such scenes. Where 
a small place, even of a quarter of an 
acre, is to be made the most of, there 
should seldom be more than one or 
two trees, shrubs, or plants of exactly 
the same kind ; and the ornamental 
plants immediately adjoining the 
house may be combined with the 
verandah, portico or porch, conserva- 
tory, greenhouse or hothouses, ter- 
race, flights of steps, balustrades, 
vases, statues, fountains, walks, rock- 
work, and a great variety of similar 
objects, according to the taste of the 
designer, the peculiarities of the situ- 
ation, and the expense which the pro- 
prietor is disposed to incur. 

Plectra'nthus. — Labiatce. — East 
Indian and Australian plants, generally 
requiring a stove in England, and 
which are not worth the trouble it 
takes to cultivate them. 

Plumbago. — Plumbagmece. — 
Lead-wort. Greenhouse plants, re- 
markable for their vigorous growth 
and abundance of flowers. They 
should be grown in light rich soil, 
and they are propagated by cut- 
tings. 

Podolepis. — Composites. — Very 
pretty Australian plants, which should 
be grown in a compost of loam and 
peat. They are all nearly hardy ; 
the perennials are increased by divid- 
ing the root, and the annuals (P. gra- 
cilis, &c.) by sowing on a hotbed in 



polia'nthes . 



222 



POLY GALA. 



February or March, and transplanting 
into the open border in March. 

Podophyllum. — Podophyllacece. 
— The May Apple, or Ducksfoot. An 
American herbaceous marsh plant, 
which should be grown in a light rich 
soil kept moist, and which is increased 
by seeds or dividing its creeping roots. 
The flower is white, and the fruit, 
which is eatable, is green and about 
the size of a plum. 

Poet's Cassia. — See Osyris. 

Poinciana. — See CeSALPIIIIA. 

Poinsetti a EuphorbiacecB. — A 

most splendid plant, not for its 
flowers, which are small and white, 
butfor its large bright scarlet bracteas, 
which, at a ] ittle distance, have a 
superb appearance. There is a va- 
riety with white bracteas, but it is 
very inferior to the species. This 
plant requires a stove, in which it 
should be grown in a compost of loam 
and peat. After it has shed its leaves, 
it should be allowed a season of rest, 
during which it should be kept nearly 
dry. It is increased by cuttings, which, 
when taken off, should be dried for a_ 
few days, and then plunged into the 
tan of a pine pit or stove. 

Poivrea. — Combretacece. — This 
new genus, established by Professor 
De Candolle, includes all those spe- 
cies of the genus Combretum which 
have ten stamens and five-angled 
seeds ; the type being Combretiurn 
purpurea, {Poivrea coccinea Dec.) 
For the culture, see Combretum. 

Polemo v nium. — Polemoniacece. — 
Greek Valerian. The common wild 
species, P. cceruleum, is very abun- 
dant on the dry sandy banks in the 
ianes near Shenstone, in Staffordshire, 
where it is called Charity, though its 
common name in other parts of Eng- 
land is Jacob's Ladder. All the kinds 
succeed best in gravelly or chalky soil, 
and they are all increased by dividing 
she roots. 

Polia'mthes. — HemerocallidecB. 



— The Tuberose. A bulbous-rooted 
plant, a native of the East Indies, re- 
markable for its highly odoriferous 
white flowers. The bulbs are im- 
ported from Italy, where they are 
grown for exportation as Hyacinths 
are in Holland. They require to be 
brought forward in a frame or pit ; 
and when coming into flower, they 
should be removed to a greenhouse 
or any cool airy apartment, where 
they will diffuse a powerful fragrance 
which to some is grateful and to 
others oppressive. They should be 
potted in sandy loam ; and if the bulbs 
are intended to flower the second 
year, the plants should be replaced in 
heat close to the glass, and kept there 
till the leaves begin to decay ; after 
which the bulbs may be treated like 
those of the Hyacinth. It is rarely, 
however, that this can be done with 
success, and it is therefore better to 
throw the plants away when they 
have done flowering, and purchase 
fresh bulbs every year. In pleasure- 
grounds of limited extent, a few plants 
of Tuberose in flower, distributed 
over them at distances of fifty or one 
hundred yards plant from plant, will 
diffuse a most delightful fragrance in 
the summer and autumnal evenings ; 
a circumstance well understood in the 
public gardens in the vicinity of 
Paris. 

Polya'nthus. — See Pri'mula. 

Poly'gala. — Polygalece. — Milk- 
wort. Very handsome greenhouse 
shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good 
Hope, which should be grown in a 
compost of two-thirds peat, and 
one-third of very sandy loam ; or 
equal parts of peat and sand, with 
one- third of vegetable mould may be 
used. The plants should be frequently 
watered ; but the water should not be 
suffered to remain in a stagnant state 
about the roots. When it is wished 
to raise young plants, the tips of the 
shoots should be taken off about 



polypo'dium. 



223 



PORTLANDIA. 



three inches long, and struck in 
sand under a bell-glass. All cut- 
tings of the shrubby Polygalas are very 
apt to damp off ; and therefore the 
glasses should be frequently taken off 
and wiped. There are other kinds of 
Polygala, natives of Europe, which 
are herbaceous perennials ; and others 
which are natives of North America, 
some of which are annuals and some 
perennials. All the herbaceous Poly- 
galas are hardy dwarf plants, very 
suitable for rockwork ; and they may 
be grown in any common soil, though 
they prefer peat or very sandy loam. 
Some of the kinds of Polygala are 
now included in the genus Muraltia, 
the type of which is P. Heisteria ; 
and others in the genus Mundia, the 
type of which is P. spinbsa. 

Polygona v tum Smilacece. — So- 
lomon's Seal. Hardy perennial plants, 
which require no other care than 
planting in any common garden soil. 
They will thrive either in exposed 
situations, or under the shade of 
trees, but the flowers are generally 
largest when the plants are grown in 
the shade. 

Polygonum. — Polygonew. — This 
is a very extensive genus, and em- 
braces a great many very different 
plants ; some of which are British 
weeds, and others stove-plants from 
the East Indies or New South Wales 
Some of the commonest kinds in Bri- 
tish gardens are, the Buckwheat 
{Polygonum fagopyrum), the gar- 
den Persicaria, (P. Persicaria) and 
the water-pepper, (P. Hydropiper), 
the beautiful pink flowers of which 
are so ornamental in the ponds in 
Kensington Gardens, and other places. 
Plants so various in their nature, re- 
quire of course different kinds of soil 
and situation ; but they will all grow 
in sandy loam, and are generally of 
the easiest culture. 

Polypot>ium. — Cryptogamia 
Filices. — An extensive genus of very 



beautiful ferns, some of which are 
natives of Britain, and others are 
exotic. All ferns should be grown 
in shady, damp places ; and the hardy 
ones thrive most in a shrubbery 
under the drip of trees, where few 
other plants will grow. The exotic 
kinds should be grown in a stove 
glazed with green glass ; and the at- 
mosphere should be kept damp by 
water being frequently poured on the 
floor and flues. 

Pomade'rris. — RhamnacecB. — 
Australian shrubs with cymes of yel- 
low flowers and generally woolly 
leaves, nearly allied to Ceanothus. 
They are very nearly hardy, and may 
be grown in the open air with a little 
protection during winter. They 
should be grown in sandy peat, or in 
a mixture of peat and loam ; and they 
are propagated by cuttings. 

Pomegranate. — See Punica. 

Pontederia. — Pontederacece. — 
Stove aquatics that should be planted 
in rich loamy soil, and the cistern 
filled up with water. They are in- 
creased by dividing the roots. 

Ponthieva. — Orchidacece. —Stove 
Orchidese, more curious than beauti- 
ful, which are usually grown iu pots. 
— See Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Poppy. — See Papaver. 

PoKA , HA.--Co?ivolvulace(e.— Stove 
climbing plants, with white flowers. 
Some of the species are now included 
in the genus Dinetus. 

Porcupine Cactus, — See Echino- 
cactus. 

Portlandia. — RubiacecB. — Stove 
shrubs, natives of Jamaica, with very 
showy flowers. They should be grown 
in sandy peat or very sandy loam. In 
Jamaica these plants grow on calca- 
reous rocks, where they form low 
trees, with large and beautiful tube- 
shaped flowers, which are delightfully 
fragrant. There are but two species 
known, one of which has white and 
the other scarlet flowers, and they are 



potenti'lla. 



224 



POTTING. 



both propagated by cuttings in sand, 
under a bell-glass, and plunged into 
bottom heat. 

Portugal Laurfl. — Cerasus Lu- 
sitanica. — A handsome evergreen 
shrub, which thrives best in moist 
shady situations, and which sometimes 
attains the size of a tree. In Ireland, 
Portugal Laurels attain an enormous 
size, the moisture of the climate suit- 
ing them admirably. 

PoTAMOGETON. AUsmaceCB. 

Pondweed. — British weeds, one or two 
species of which are ornamental ; as 
for example, P. rufescens, P. lucens, 
and P. natans. 

Potknti'lla. — Rosacea. — A ge- 
nus of herbaceous plants, and one or 
two shrubs, the greater part of which 
are ornamental, and some eminently 
so. They all thrive in any common 
soil, and are readily increased by divi- 
sion of the plants, or by seeds, which 
most of them produce in abundance. 
They also hybridise freely, from which 
new kinds are frequently raised by Flo- 
rists. The principal shrubby species is 
Potenttlla fruticbsa, which forms a 
hardy bush, commonly between two 
feet and three feet high, and produces 
abundance of yellow flowers in July. 
The most ornamental herbaceous 
species are, P. Guntheri, P. Sie- 
versiana, and P. Thomasi, with 
yellow flowers; P. crbcea, P. atro- 
sangutnea pedata, with copper-co- 
loured flowers ; P.formbsa Gesneri- 
ana, with yellow and red flowers ; P. 
formbsa Mayana and P. Hopivood- 
iana, with pink, and white flowers ; 
P. alba, P. glabra and P. rup'tstris, 
with white flowers ; P. atrosangutnea 
fulgens and P. a. ignescens, with 
crimson flowers ; P. atrosangutnea 
and P. formbsa, with deep red or pur- 
ple flowers, which are produced from 
May to August ; and P. Russelliana 
and P. atrosangutnea coccinea, with 
dark scarlet flowers. All these species 
are low, few of them exceeding one 



foot in height, and the greater part 
not being above six inches. They are 
delightful plants for pots or for rock- 
work, and the whole are so hardy and 
of such easy culture that they will 
bear neglect better than most other 
inhabitants of the border or the flower 
garden. Of all the kinds, P. Rus- 
selliana, with rich dark scarlet flowers, 
is by far the handsomest. 

Potting. — The subject of potting 
plants may be considered in two ways : 
first, with reference to the advantages 
of that mode of growing plants as 
compared with growing them in the 
free soil ; and secondly, with reference 
to the performance of the operation of 
potting. Plants growing in pots are 
placed in very unnatural circumstances, 
from the limit given to the extension 
of their roots by the small quantity of 
soil and the confined space of the pot; 
and by the circumstance of the outside 
of the pot being constantly exposed to 
the action of the air on every side. In 
consequence of these conditions, the 
roots of plants in pots are alternately 
scorched, and cooled, and dried by the 
action of the atmosphere ; and as, to 
keep the plants alive, they require to 
be frequently watered, the soil soon 
becomes soddened, or soured as it is 
called by gardeners, and the plant is 
either checked in its growth, or be- 
comes diseased. Nevertheless by well- 
considered treatment plants may be 
grown in pots toahi^hdegree of perfec- 
tion, and some kinds better than in the 
free soil. For this purpose two things 
are more especially requisite; the first 
is to provide sufficient drainage for the 
escape of superfluous matter ; aud the 
second is to cover the sides of the pot 
by some medium which shall prevent 
the action of the surrounding air in 
heating or drying the, outside of the 
pot, and consequently the soil and 
roots within. Every pot, tub, or ves- 
sel, in which a plant is grown contain* 
a hole or holes in the bottom or lower 



POTTIXG. 



225 



POTTING. 



sides ; and these are to be prevented 
from being closed by the soil by a 
covering of potsherds, sbells, or small 
stones, covered with turfy matter, 
over which the soil in which the plant 
is grown is to be placed. To prevent 
the sides of the pot or vessel in which 
the plant is grown fi om being scorched 
or dried by the heat of the sun, the 
pot is plunged in soil, or in moss, or 
some other porous matter, or the pots 
are placed sufficiently near together 
to shade one another. Different kinds 
of plants require different degrees of 
drainage, and of protection from the 
sides of the pot. For example, all 
Orchidaceous plants, succulents, and 
hair-rooted plants, such as the Erica- 
cese, require a great deal of drainage ; 
and all plants which require rich moist 
soil, such as the Scitaminese, and 
many of the most vigorous-growing 
tropical herbaceous plants, require the 
sides of the pot to be protected by 
plunging it in tan, sand, ashes, soil, 
moss, or some other nonconducting- 
medium, which shall not be readily 
permeable by drought or heat. 

With respect to the operation of 
potting plants, when seedlings or plants 
newly rooted by cuttings, layers, or 
other means, are to be potted, a small 
pot is chosen, either of the least size, 
or of a size somewhat larger, according 
to the bulk of the plant to be planted, 
or its known vigour of growth. The 
hole in the bottom of the pot being 
covered with one or more potsherds, 
and with some rough turfy, rooty, or 
mossy matter, or with coarse gravel, 
some soil is put in over it. On this 
the roots of the young plants are 
placed and spread out, and soil is 
placed over them till the pot is filled, 
as before mentioned under the article 
planting. The soil in the pot is then 
consolidated by shaking, and lifting it 
up, and setting it down once or twice 
with a jar, the soil round the edge of 
the pot being rendered firm by the 



thumb, or by a stick as already men- 
tioned. Plants of larger size without 
balls of earth attached to the roots are 
planted exactly in the same manner, 
excepting that the pots chosen are 
larger, in proportion to the size of the 
plant. Plants which have grown in 
the free soil during summer, such as 
Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Myrtles, and 
such other plants as are turned out of 
pots into the open garden in the begin- 
ning of summer, and taken up and 
repotted about the latter end of au- 
tumn, are commonly taken up with 
balls ; and, when this is the case, the 
pot chosen must be of sufficient size 
to admit of the ball of earth without 
breaking it. Previously to the taking 
up of these plants, more especially 
when they have grown with great 
vigour, it is found advantageous to cut 
the roots all round about the same 
distance from the main stem, as the 
size of the ball was when put into the 
ground, by which means the plant 
receives a check before it is taken up, 
and is prepared to endure the still 
greater check which it will unavoid- 
ably receive when potted. This pre- 
caution is more especially requisite for 
such strong growing plants astbeBrug- 
mansias, Fuchsia fulgens, Scarlet Pe- 
largoniums, Stocks, "Wallflowers, &c. 
All plants after being newly potted 
should receive a sufficient quantity of 
water to moisten the whole of the soil 
in the pot ; and all of them require 
to be shaded, to prevent excessive 
transpiration till they have begun to 
grow. 

Plants in pots which are to be 
transplanted into other pots with the 
ball entire, require comparatively 
little care. The new pot should be 
at least one size larger than the old 
one out of which the plant is to be 
taken, and, being properly drained, 
and some mould put over the drain- 
age, the plant to be changed is turned 
out of the first pot by turning it up- 
Q 



POTTING. 



226 



pri'mula . 



side down, holding the left hand on 
the surface of the soil in the pot, and 
with the neck of the plant between 
the two middle fingers, while the bot- 
tom of the pot is held with the right 
hand ; and then the ball is loosened 
by the edge of the pot being struck 
against any fixed object, such as the 
side of a potting bench, or the handle 
of a spade stuck in the ground. The 
ball containing the plant will thus 
drop out into the left hand, and the 
potsherds that have come out with it 
being taken off with the right hand, 
the ball thus prepared is set in the 
middle of the prepared pot, and the 
interstices between the ball and the 
sides of the new pot are filled in with 
earth and made firm bya potting-stick. 
The pot may then be lifted up with 
both hands and set down two or three 
times with a jar, so as to consolidate 
the whole. The pot is then to be 
supplied with water to such an ex- 
tent as to moisten the whole of the 
earth which it contains ; and it may 
be set where it is finally to remain 
without the necessity of shading. 
This operation is called shifting. 

In potting plants, whether in small 
or in large pots, it is essentially neces- 
sary that the inside of the pot should 
be perfectly clean aud dry. If it is 
not clean, and if particles of eaitli are 
adhering to the sides of the pot, the 
fresh soil put in when the plant 
comes to be shifted will so adhere to 
the matter attached to the sides as to 
prevent the ball from being turned 
out without breaking, and tearing 
asunder the fibrous roots of the plant. 
When the sides of a pot in which a 
plant is to be planted, or a ball shifted, 
are wet, the new soil soon becomes 
sodden or soured, and also adheres so 
firmly to the sides of the pot as not 
to come out in shifting without break- 
ing, as in the preceding case. The 
soddening or souring in this latter case 
appears to proceed from the choking 



up of the pores of the sides of the 
pot. 

Potsherds or Crocks, are pieces of 
flower-pots, tiles, or bricks, broken 
very small, and used for draining 
pots where it is required to retain a 
certain degree of moisture round the 
roots of the plants. Thus potsherds 
should be used for hair-rooted plants, 
such as th# Cape and Australian 
shrubs, and also the North Ameri- 
can Rhododendrons and Azaleas ; as 
they require to have their roots kept 
in an equable state of moisture, 
which would be destructive to the 
Cacti and other similar plants. But 
cinders, when of a large size, are 
very useful in draining pots for very 
delicate succulent-rooted plants, as 
they do not either absorb or retain 
moisture, which crocks always do. 
When cinders are sifted, the largest 
may be reserved for this purpose, 
and the ashes that fall from them, 
or any coal too small to burn, will 
be useful for setting greenhouse plants 
on during summer, as they will pre- 
vent Avorms from coming out of the 
ground under them. Unless this 
precaution be taken, worms will creep 
through the holes at the bottom of 
the pots, and do great injury to the 
plants, hy tearing asunder the tender 
fibres of the roots in passing through 
the mould, and particularly in throw- 
ing up their casts. 

Potting-Stick. — An instrument 
made of wood, and resembling a paper 
knife, but thicker and blunter at the 
extremity. Its use is to push the 
earth into the pots when plants are 
shifted or transplanted, and it pre- 
vents the necessity of using the thumb 
for that purpose, as is generally done 
by gardeners. Potting-sticks may be 
made of different sizes according to 
the size of the pots. 

Prickly Pear. — See Opuntia. 

Primrose. — See Pri'mula. 

Pri\mula. — Primulacece. — The 



pri'mula. 



227 



pri'mula. 



Primrose. This genus includes three 
of the most popular and beautiful of 
florists'' flowers, viz. , the Auricula, the 
Polyanthus, and the Primrose. Of 
each of these there are numerous va- 
rieties, and much has been written 
on their culture and management. 
We shall here endeavour to give a 
short outline of the treatment of each. 

The Auricula {Primula Auricula) 
is a native of the Alps of Switzerland, 
where its flowers are commonly yel- 
low and very fragrant ; it may be 
gathered in abundance on the road- 
side on the highest part of the pass of 
the Simplon, growing with the differ- 
ent Saxifrages, and not far from 
Rhododendron hirsutum. When 
it was transplanted into gardens is un- 
certain, but it has been cultivated in 
Britain since the days of Gerard, in 
1596 ; and in a state of cultivation 
its flowers are yellow, red, blue, 
purple, white, and green, and single 
and double, though the only double 
variety has the flowers yellow. Many 
elaborate directions have been given 
for preparing the soil for the Auri- 
cula ; and while some writers, as 
Justice, recommend rotten willow- 
wood and old cowdung, others, as 
Emmerson, recommend bullock's 
blood, sugar-baker's scum, and con- 
centrated night-soil. The plants, 
however, will grow and thrive on any 
rich loamy soil, for example, in a 
mixture of leaf-mould or thoroughly 
rotten cowdung and loam. They 
will even grow very well in heath 
soil mixed with loam ; and this is the 
soil in which they are commonly 
grown in the neighbourhood of Paris. 
Whatever kind of manure is used for 
the Auricula, it should be so tho- 
roughly decomposed as to have be- 
come a fine mould, and, in this state, 
it may be mixed with the common 
soil of gardens in equal parts, with 
the addition of a fifth or a sixth part 
of coarse sand if the plants are to be 



grown in pots. All the choice varie- 
ties of Auricula are grown in pots, 
and kept under cover in glass frames 
shaded ; or placed in a northern ex- 
posure during winter and spring, and 
in the open air in a situation open to 
the east or the west during summer 
after the flowering season is over. 
During the time they are in flower, 
they are commonly kept in frames 
close under the glass, or under hand- 
glasses to protect the flowers from the 
rain ; the flowers in all the varie- 
ties, and the leaves in some, being 
more or less covered with a pow- 
dery bloom, the preservation of 
which is a desideratum among choice 
cultivators. The Auricula is propa- 
gated by division of the root, or by 
cutting off slips which have gene- 
rally some roots attached, and are 
put at once into small pots. The 
season for performing the operation 
is shortly after the flowers have gone 
off, or, if they are left on, imme- 
diately after the seed has ripened. 
There are common kinds of Auri- 
cula whicli are planted in borders 
or in beds in the open ground ; but, 
as before observed, all the choicer 
sorts are grown in pots and kept in 
pits or frames. The culture requires 
so much care and nicety, that who- 
ever would excel in it, and possess a 
good collection, should procure a book 
specially devoted to the culture of 
this and other florists' flowers ; for 
example, to Hogg's Treatise on the 
Auricula, or Maddox's Florist's 
Directory. Auriculas when grown 
as florists' flowers have almost innu- 
merable names ; but they may be all 
divided into three classes, viz., those 
with green edges, those with grey 
edges, and those of only one colour, 
which are called selfs. No Auricula 
is valued that is what is called pin- 
eyed, that is, if the style and stigma 
appear above the anthers. 

The Polyanthus {Primula vul- 
Q 2 



pri'mula. 



228 



pri'mula. 



paris, var. caulescens) and the 
Primrose {Primula vulgaris, var. 
acaulis) are cultivated in the same 
soil and in the same manner as the 
Auricula ; hut being much hardier, 
and also naturally stronger, a larger 
proportion of loam is used in the soil, 
and only the more choice sorts are 
grown in pots. Both Polyanthuses 
and Primroses form most ornamental 
border flowers in early spring, but 
only the Polyanthus is what is pro- 
perly called a florists' flower. The 
colour of the flower of Polyanthus is 
always yellow and brown, and the 
finest flowers are those that have 
the segments of the corolla flat, and 
the circumference marked with a yel- 
low line, the anthers of the stamens 
being only visible, and not the pistil, 
the anthers being arranged symme- 
trically so as to form what florists 
call a none eye. Sometimes the an- 
thers are not seen, but the style and 
stigma stand up conspicuously like a 
large pin, and when this is the case, 
the flowers are called pin-eyed, and 
are considered worthless. The double 
Polyanthus, and the red and white 
Hose-in-hose Primrose, are two varie- 
ties having double corollas, which may 
be called botanists" varieties, and are 
ornamental border flowers, but are 
not valued by florists. Besides these, 
however, there are a great many flo- 
rists' varieties with names, which are 
cultivated in pots like Auriculas. 

The Primrose is very ornamental 
as a border flower, but it has not 
sported so much as the Polyanthus, 
and there are therefore no florists' 
primroses. The border or garden va- 
rieties, however, which are mostly 
double, are very showy ; among these 
the double flesh-coloured, double 
white, double brimstone, double red, 
double copper, double dark purple, 
and double violet, deserve a place in 
every garden. The single white and 
the single red, both of which are 



found wild, are also much admired, 
and are valuable as coming into 
bloom in March. 

Primula elhtior, the Oxlip, has 
a scape or flower-stem rather taller 
than that of the Polyanthus, but the 
flowers are not so large. There are 
a number of varieties, but none of 
them have been selected and named. 

Primula verts, the Cowslip, bears 
a close resemblance to the Oxlip, but 
is more commonly found with the 
flowers yellow than red, and like 
the Oxlip it is a pretty border 
flower. The Polyanthus, the Prim- 
rose, the Oxlip, and the Cowslip, are 
all species of the same genus, and 
fecundate one another readily, so that 
an endless number of varieties may 
be raised from seed. Where there is 
room and leisure, this affords a great 
source of interest to the amateur, 
who, as every plant comes into flower 
for the first time, is eager to observe 
whether it presents anything new, 
and if new, good. When a gardener 
raises these plants from seed, and 
finds his labour and anxiety rewarded 
with a good variety, he is delighted, 
and probably gratifies himself by 
calling it some high-sounding name, 
and promising or exchanging plants of 
it with his friends. The seeds may 
be gathered when the capsules are 
ready to burst in July, and sown im- 
mediately in a shady border, or in pots 
or pans of loamy soil kept moist and 
shaded. The covering should be 
very slight, otherwise the seeds will 
not come up. In fine seasons seeds 
sown as soon as they are gathered, 
will produce plants which will flower 
in the following autumn ; but in 
general it is necessary to wait till the 
next spring. When the seedlings 
have produced two or three leaves, 
they should be transplanted into rich 
loamy soil in a shady situation at the 
distance of a few inches from each 
other; and as they come into flower the 



pri'mula. 



229 



PROPAGATION. 



good sorts should be marked, and the 
less admired kinds pulled up and 
thrown away. "When the seed is not 
sown immediately after being gathered, 
it may be kept till the following 
March, and treated as above men- 
tioned. Auricula seed requires ex- 
actly the same treatment ; excepting 
that it is generally sown in pans of 
soil composed of a mixture of leaf- 
mould and loam, and the seedlings 
are transplanted into larger pans, or 
into single small pots. The seed of 
common border Auriculas may be 
treated like that of the Polyanthus or 
Primrose. 

Primula cortusoides is a very 
ornamental species, which produces its 
red flowers from May to July ; it re- . 
quires a loamy soil, kept moist, and a 
shady situation, and therefore cannot 
be treated like a common border 
flower. 

Primula decora, P. nivalis, P. 
villosa, P. marginata, P. helvetica, 
P. farinosa, P. Palinuri, P. 
scotica, and several others, might be 
named as rare and beautiful species, 
natives of alpine regions, and requiring 
to be cultivated with care in loamy or 
peaty soil, kept moist, in an open and 
airy, but yet shady situation. 

P. prcenitens, the Chinese Prim- 
rose, is a very beautiful greenhouse 
plant, of which there are varieties 
with pink, with white, and with semi- 
double flowers. All these are parti- 
cularly valuable, as forming neat 
little plants and flowering throughout 
the winter. They are propagated by 
seeds which generally come true to 
the variety ; or by cuttings which 
must be struck in sand under a bell 
glass, and with bottom heat. They 
are only biennials, and therefore new 
plants require to be raised every year. 
They are generally grown in pots, 
which should be well drained with 
potsherds, and filled up with a rich 
compost of equal parts of loam, peat, 



or sand, and rotten dung or vegetable 
mould. 

Prince's Feather. — Amarantus 
hypochondriacus. — See Amaran- 
tus. 

Pri v nos. — Rhamnacece. — Hardy 
North American shrubs, that will 
grow in any light soil, though they 
prefer peat, and any situation. They 
are generally propagated by layers. 

Privet. — See Ligustrum. 

Propagation. — The tendency of all 
plants is to multiply themselves most 
commonly by producing seeds, but 
frequently also by the extension of 
bud-bearing roots under ground, and 
by root-bearing shoots above ground, 
or, in other words, by runners, suck- 
ers, and offsets. In propagating by 
seeds, all that is necessary is to col- 
lect them when ripe, and either to 
sow them immediately, which may in 
general be done with the seeds of all 
indigenous plants in their own coun- 
try, or, what is safer, preserving them 
till the following spring. The seeds 
should generally be sown in a some- 
what lighter and finer soil than that 
in which the parent plant thrives ; 
and the covering should be two or 
three times the thickness of the seed, 
the soil being gently pressed down 
before sowing, and the seeds being 
thinly distributed and gently pressed 
into the soil before being covered. 
This gentle pressure, first of the soil, 
and afterwards of the seeds, prevents 
any of the latter from being too 
deeply buried and consequently lost, 
and prevents them also from being 
unequally covered. All round seeds 
sown and covered in this manner will 
be found to come up ; while many of 
those sown in loose soil, and covered 
loosely without pressing, will be 
found to be lost. Surface runners, 
such as those of the Strawberry, and 
underground runners, such as those of 
the Mint, require merely to be cut 
off and planted ; and suckers and 



PROPAGATION. 



230 



PROPAGATION. 



offsets are, in like manner, separated 
from the parent plants and planted 
by themselves. The artificial modes 
of propagation are by layers, cuttings, 
budding, and grafting; and all these 
modes are founded on the principle, 
that a bud is equivalent to a seed, 
and, with certain exceptions, will, 
when suitably treated, send down roots 
from one extremity, and send up 
shoots from the other. Sometimes 
the bud can be separated from the 
plant without any portion of its stem 
or root, as in the case of bulb-bearing 
stems ; but most generally, it is ne- 
cessary to have a portion of the wood 
or stem taken off along with the bud, 
as in the case of propagating by cut- 
tings, layers, grafting, &c. In the 
case of budding, a smaller portion of 
the wood or bark of the parent is re- 
quired than in any other case, ex- 
cepting that of propagating by bulbs, 
which are nothing more than de- 
tached self-supporting buds. As plants 
have sometimes what are called ad- 
ventitious or dormant buds, which 
are called into activity by particular 
circumstances, some plants may be 
propagated by portions of the roots, 
leaves, or branches, on which no bud 
is apparent, as in the case of the roots 
of the Rosacea? ; the leaves of some 
species of Cardamine, Gloxinia, &c. 
and the branches of the Willow. 
In general those roots which abound 
in milky juices, as Ailantus, Rhus, 
C3talpa, Euphorbia, Nuttalia, Pa- 
paver, Morus, Maclura, &c, will pro- 
duce buds much readier than dry 
roots, such as those of the Oak, of 
which only one species, the Quercus 
Tauzin, grows by cuttings of the roots. 
In propagating by eyes or buds, some 
florists strike their Pinks by redu- 
cing the cutting, or piping as it is 
called, to the topmost joint, and 
cutting away all the leaves close 
above the central bud ; the cuttings 
are afterwards planted in a layer of 



sand on the top of a bed of rich com- 
post, and covered with a hand-glass. 
Any species of Dianthus, or any kind 
of grass or reed, may be struck in the 
same manner. Success is most cer- 
tain in fine sunny weather, as it de- 
pends on the excitement of the vital 
energies of the bud ; and though it 
has no leaves to nourish it, yet in 
dry sunny weather it will strike 
sooner than a piping with the leaves 
left on, which grows best in dull 
cloudy weather. In propagating by 
leaves there is little that can be de- 
pended on in a practical point of view ; 
and therefore this mode of increasing 
plants must be looked on more as a 
curiosity than as any useful mode. 
The propagating by cuttings much de- 
pends on the manner in which they 
are formed, and the state of the 
weather : if this should be dull and 
cloudy, cuttings with the leaves on 
will succeed best ; but if it should be 
dry and sunny, cuttings with few 
leaves covered wdth a hand-glass so as 
to exclude the air are to be preferred. 
A cutting with only two or three 
leaves, and these perhaps mutilated, 
is similar to an eye or bud, and re- 
quires to be excited ; while a cutting 
with all its leaves on will perish from 
excessive transpiration, if much ex- 
cited. A great deal of the success of 
cuttings depends on their being well 
pressed by the medium in which they 
are inserted ; they will grow squeezed 
to the sides of the pot, and are found 
to succeed best when pressed against 
it. When planted in the open ground, 
they should be firmly pressed at their 
lower extremity ; as when pressed 
towards their middle they will in 
some cases strike root at that part of 
the cutting, while all below it will 
decay ; and in other cases the whole 
cutting will rot. The depth to which 
cuttings are inserted, depends upon 
whether they are of the old or young 
wood. If the former, tbey should 



PROPAGATION. 



231. 



PROPAGATION. 



be buried at least half the distance 
between tlie joints, as shown in Fig. 
2-1 , of the cutting of a China Rose, 




HOSE CUTTING, READY FOR PLANTING ; 
THE DOTTED LINE SHOWING 
THE GROUND. 

and in Fig. 25, of a myrtle. In 
cuttings of the young wood, on the 

FIG. 25. 




A CUTTING OF A MYRTLE PREPARED FOR 
PLANTING, THE DOTTED LINE SHOWING 
THE GROUND. 

contrary, where the wood is soft and 
succulent, it is better to bury only 



the joint in the ground, as shown in 
Fig. 26, of a Kenned ya, where cuttings 
are likely to be difficult to strike, the 
end may be slit as is often done with 
cuttings of an Orange. In general, 
the best time for taking off cuttings is 
when the young shoot is in the act of 
extending itself by growth ; because 
the vital principle is then in a state of 
greater activity, and the swelling of 
the circular matter at the lower ex- 
tremity of the cutting, or callosity as 
it is called by gardeners, from which 
the roots proceed, is sooner formed. 
It is of great consequence with all 
cuttings, where circumstances will ad- 
mit, to preserve that part of the shoot 

fig. 26. 




CUTTING OF THE YOUNG WOOD OF A 
KENNEDYA. 

which joins the stem ; because this 
base, or callosity as it may be called, 
contains a nucleus of adventitious buds 
and fibres, from which roots are more 
readily protruded than from any other 
part of the cutting. 

In propagating by layers, the slit in 
the layers should be made just below 
a bud on the shoot, as described under 
the head Layering, but without de- 



PROPAGATION. 



232 



PROPS. 



taching tlie shoot from the parent 
plant ; and the part above the slit 
should he fixed in the ground as 
perpendicularly as possible, in order 
to check the sap, and cause it to ac- 
cumulate in that part of the layer 
which is cut, and from which the 
roots are to proceed. 

The success of budding depends 
greatly on the state of the stock. If 
this is growing vigorously, and the 
bark rises quite freely on the intro- 
duction of the budding-knife, the 
budding can hardly fail of success ; 
but if the young shoots of the stock 
are nearly ripened to their summits, 
the bark is likely to adhere to the 
wood, and the operation of budding to 
be unsuccessful. Much of the suc- 
cess both of budding and grafting de- 
pends on performing the operation as 
speedily as possible. In grafting, the 
great art is to keep the newest layers 
of wood in the inner bark of the stock 
and the scion closely united, and 
firmly pressed together; and for this 
purpose they should both be as near 
of a size as possible, and the slice cut 
off from each should be very small, 
allowing as much of the alburnum as 
possible to remain on both. The 
scion should not be put on the stock 
till the latter has begun to grow ; 
and for this reason it is always ad- 
vantageous to cut off the scions from 
the parent plant a month or more 
before the grafting season, and to pre- 
serve them by inserting their ends in 
the soil in a shady situation. If this 
is neglected to be done, and the sap 
is in motion before the scion is cut 
off, the check which it will receive is 
such as effectually to prevent it from 
uniting with the stock, however ex- 
pertly the operation of grafting may 
be performed. After all that can be 
written on grafting, nothing will insure 
success if the operator has not had 
some experience ; and therefore in this 
as in all the operations of gardening 



the amateur will gain more by a few 
minutes' observation of what takes 
place in a nursery, or by an expe- 
rienced gardener, than by reading 
volumes of well -written treatises ; 
though the latter are useful in teach- 
ing principles and calling to mind 
the modes of practice. — See Seeds, 
Cuttings, Layers, Graftings, &c. 

Props are artificial supports for 
plants; and they are of various kinds, 
according to the nature of the plant 
that is to be supported. Twining 
plants are supported by single rods, 
stakes or poles without branches ; 
plants which climb by tendrils are 
supported by branched rods ; and 
plants which raise themselves by 
elongation or long slender shoots 
among other plants are supported 
artificially by branched rods, or by 
being tied to simple rods. All these 
kinds of plants when too tender to 
be supported in the open garden, are 
trained to walls, which are the uni- 
versal supports of plants, whether of 
the hardy and ligneous kinds, or of 
such as are slender, somewhat delicate, 
and either naturally climbing, such as 
Bignonia capreolata, — or rambling 
or trailing, such as different kinds of 
.roses. Ornamental plants grown in 
pots are sometimes supported by 
single rods of wood, or of iron or 
wire, (see Figs. 7 and 8) and some- 
times by small frames either of wood 
or iron. These frames may either be 
flat and of equal breadth from the 
surface of the pot upwards ; or they 
may be widest at top,' which suit9 
most sorts of climbers ; or they may 
be made in the form of cones, pyra- 
mids, inverted cones, or balloon-like 
shapes, at pleasure. (See Fig 22, in 
p. 178.) A very common form for such 
plants as Tropceolum pentcsphyl- 
lum, T. tricolbrum, and T. bra- 
chyceras, is that of an elongated fan ; 
and another is that of a shield-like 
figure with the narrow end at the pot. 



PROPS. 



233 



PROPS. 



In general all plants grown in pots 
should have the support of a regular 
or symmetrical shape ; and all those 
grown in heds or borders, such as 
Sweet Peas, the common Tropseolum, 
(Nasturtium), the Scarlet-runner, &c, 
should have small branchy stakes 
inserted in the soil in a regular 
manner, so as never to appear the 
work of chance or of carelessness, but 
of art and careful design. Climbing 
roses may either be supported by 
training against walls or trellis-work, 
or on single rods, with expanding 
parasol-like tops of wire-work ; or 
they may be supported on cones or 
pyramids of rods or poles. The 
stronger-growing climbing Roses, 
which attain the height of twenty 
feet, or thirty feet, or upwards, such 
as the double Ayrshire Rose, the 
Rose de Lille, the Boursault, R. 
Macrantha, Cassoretiana, Brooke's 
Climbing, Noisettes, &c. may be sup- 
ported on cones or pyramids two feet 
or three feet in diameter at the ground, 
and rising to the height of twenty feet, 
formed of the stems of young Fir 
trees tied together : tender roses, on 
the other hand, such as Rosa Bdnk- 
sia, the Musk Rose, require to be 
trained against walls. Props for border- 
flowers may either be small rods made 
by splitting the laths used by plas- 
terers or by carpenters from deal- 
board ; but perhaps the best mode, 
because least artificial and ostenta- 
tious, is that of using straight rods of 
hazel, or some such wood, with the 
bark on. The object in using the 
rods of this kind is not so much to 
avoid the appearance of the use of 
the instruments of the carpenter, as 
to avoid the conspicuousness which is 
the result of all artificial props, and 
especially of such as are not painted 
green. The principle to be taken as 
a guide is, that the rod should always 
be subordinate to the plant to be sup- 
ported by it or trained on it. If this 



principle is kept constantly in view, 
few glaring errors will be committed 
either in forming supports for plants 
in pots, or for plants in the open 
ground. Hence walls on which 
plants are to be trained should never 
be built of bright red brick, or very 
white stone ; or if they are plas- 
tered, the colour should always be of 
a subdued kind. Some plants are 
trained up rods or cones for the sake 
of producing flowers ; and others, such 
as Ivy, when trained up an erect rod 
with an umbrella-like top for the sake 
of producing shade. When the ob- 
ject is flowers during the whole ex- 
tent of the plant, the prop should 
always be wider at the base than at 
the top, in order that the foliage may 
enjoy the direct influence of the sun 
and of perpendicular rains during its 
whole extent. When the flowers 
are chiefly to be produced at the top, 
and the object of the stem is merely 
to elevate the top to a considerable 
distance from the ground, then the 
latter must spread over the former as 
much as may be desirable for the 
sake of effect. In like manner, when 
the object is shade, or the covering of 
a summer shelter or a bower, the 
stems may be trained upright and 
may be shaded to any extent by the 
head. 

Wire frames for training plants in 
pots are generally painted green ; but 
a more artistical colour would be that 
of stone or of the bark of trees, or of 
young rods ; because green too much 
resembles nature, and the object in 
imitating nature ought never to be 
to produce such a resemblance as 
might be mistaken for it. In sup- 
porting large flowers, such as Dah- 
lias, or shrubs, such as standard Roses, 
in the open garden, stakes of cast or 
wrought iron are frequently used, and 
the colour they are painted is almost 
always green ; but though this colour 
abstractedly considered is so agreeable 



PROPS. 



234 



PROTECTING. 



to the eye, yet its use on stakes to be 
used among living plants cannot be 
defended as artistical. A brown co- 
lour, or some tint nearer that of the 
bark of rods, say tbose of tbe ash or 
hazel, would undoubtedly be in better 
taste. Twining plants, such as the 
Convolvulus, are frequently encou- 
raged to twine round cords made fast 
at the root of the plant at one end, 
and to a wall, horizontal rail, or some 
other fixed point or line, at the other. 
Very handsome screens may be 
formed in this manner, and also very 
agreeable figures, provided care is 
taken that the figure shall not be 
much broader at the summit than it 
is at the base. An obelisk, a column, 
a cone, a pyramid, or a cross, in an 
open airy situation, may be covered 
so as to produce a very striking effect. 
Arcades and covered ways, formed of 
framework of wood or wire, may be 
covered with creepers of every de- 
scription ligneous or herbaceous ; but 
the beauty of the flowers is only seen 
externally, and the advantage to the 
spectator walking beneath is shade 
alone. When shade and the beauty 
of the flowers are to be both enjoyed 
by the spectator in a covered walk, 
the covering ought to be produced by 
arches placed at regular distances, so 
as to admit of the air and light be- 
tween, by which means the plants will 
be covered with flowers from the 
ground to the crown of the arch. The 
arches may either cross the walk at 
right angles, or they may cross each 
other so that the vertical profile of 
every two arches would form a cross. 

Trees, after they have grown for 
some years, frequently lean to one 
6ide, especially such trees as the Judas 
tree, the Mulberry, the Pinaster, and 
even the Laburnum. These require 
props to set them upright, and the 
kind requisite for this purpose is a 
wooden prop forked at the extremity. 
In like manner, the branches of trees 



sometimes split, or for other reasons 
hang down, so as to incommode the 
path or the surface beneath ; and in 
this case the branches require to be 
tied together by iron rods. 

Pro'tea. — Proteacece . — Singular- 
looking plants, natives of the Cape of 
Good Hope, which are very difficult 
to cultivate, as their roots are fleshy 
and very apt to be injured either by 
a want of water or an excess. They 
must also have abundance of light and 
air, and not be crowded with other 
plants. They should be grown in 
pots nearly half-filled with potsherds, 
in light turfy loam mixed with equal 
parts of fine silver sand, and placed in 
a greenhouse. Great care must be 
taken in shifting them when they re- 
quire larger pots, as their roots are 
very brittle, and will be found to have 
entwined themselves among the pot- 
sherds, from which it is very difficult 
to disengage them, and for this reason 
the drainage should not be disturbed, 
but transferred entire with the ball of 
earth to the new pot. These plants 
are propagated by cuttings taken off 
at a joint, and planted in separate 
pots in sand under a glass, but not 
plunged in a hotbed ; and the glass 
should be frequently taken off and 
wiped, as the cuttings are very apt to 
damp off. 

Protecting.— As half-hardy plants, 
trained against a wall, are frequently 
much injured by what are called per- 
pendicular frosts, a thatched orwooden 
coping, projecting about two feet from 
the wall, will be found of the most 
essential service in protecting them. 
Such a coping, with a sprinkling of 
straw or dead leaves over the roots, 
and a hay-band twisted round the 
trunk of the tree, about a foot from 
the ground, to protect the collar of 
the plant, will be sufficient to pro- 
tect even tender plants from all or- 
dinary frosts. Standard plants may 
be protected by laying straw or dead 



PRU V NUS. 



235 



pte'ris. 



leaves over the root, and covering 
them with a thatching of straw at- 
tached to the trunk of the tree, and 
sloping off widely at the base. Other 
coverings made of straw or rushes 
plaited and sewed together, or of osiers 
twisted like basket-work, may be used 
for smaller plants. One of these may 
be a kind of hurdle to protect plants 
against a wall ; others may be used 
to put round the stems of young 
trees, and to cover tree peonies, 
and other tall shrubs, with an open- 
ing on the side next the sun to 
admit the air and prevent damp ; and 
others are small beehive-like ^covers 
for protecting Geraniums or other 
greenhouse-plants in the borders. 

Prune'lla. — - Labiates. — Herba- 
ceous plants with showy flowers, na- 
tives of Europe and North America, 
which are well adapted for rockwork 
or geometrical flower-gardens. They 
should be grown in light rich soil ; and 
they are increased by dividing the root. 

Pruning ornamental trees and 
shrubs is seldom practised to much 
extent ; as all that is required is to 
cut out the dead wood and to prevent 
the shoots from growing out of shape. 
To do this effectually, every lady ought 
to be provided with a pair of pruning- 
shears, (see Instruments) so con- 
trived as to make what is called 
a draw-cut, and thus not to bruise 
the wood or the bark so as to pre- 
vent its uniting again smoothly. The 
cut should also be made slanting 
to a bud, so as as not to leave a piece 
of dead wood projecting beyond the 
young shoot, which has always a very 
bad effect. Much of the beauty of a 
flower-garden depends on removing 
the dead roses and other flowers as 
soon as they fade, and also all the 
dead or broken branches; but this is a 
point of culture which is very rarely 
properly attended to. 

Pru-nus. — Rosacea. — The Plum. 
Though the common Plum tree ranks 



among fruit-trees, and as such is not 
entitled to a place in the present work, 
yet there are many species of Prunus 
which may be considered as some of 
our most ornamental shrubs. Among 
these are P. cdndicans, with woolly 
leaves and long clusters of white 
flowers ; P. cocomzlla, a native of 
Italy ; P. maritima, with white flow- 
ers and dark-blue fruit ; and P. diva- 
riedta, with white flowers and yellow 
fruit. There are many other orna- 
mental shrubs which are called Pru- 
nus in the nurseries, but which bo- 
tanists now class in the genus Ce'ra* 
sus. Among these are the Mahaleb 
or Perfumed Cherry, formerly called 
Prunus MaMleb ; and the Bird 
Cherry, which Linnaeus called Pru- 
nus Pddus. All the kinds of Prunus 
are quite hardy, and will grow in any 
common soil. 

Psi'dium. — Myrtacece. — The 
Guava. Tropical shrubs which are 
generally grown in a stove in Eng- 
land, but one kiud of which, Cat- 
tley'3 Guava, will ripen fruit in a 
greenhouse. In the West Indies the 
fruit is used for making the well- 
known Guava jelly. All the kinds 
should be grown in loam and peat, 
and they are all propagated by layers. 

Psora'lea. — Leguminosce. — . 
Shrubby and herbaceous plants of 
easy culture, some of which require 
a greenhouse in England. They grow 
freely in loam and peat, and are pro- 
pagated by seeds or cuttings. Most 
of the species are natives of the Cape 
of Good Hope. 

Pte'lea. — Terebinthacece. —Ame- 
rican shrubs, quite hardy in British 
gardens, and ornamental for the fine 
yellow which their leaves take in 
autumn. They will grow in any 
garden soil, and they are multiplied 
by cuttings and layers. 

Pte^ris. — Filices. — Brake. A 
very ornamental kind of fern. For 
the culture, see Polypo v dium. 



PT RE* THRUM. 



2 



36 



py'rus. 



Pulmona x ria. — Boraginece.—W&x- 
baceous plants with rather ornamental 
flowers, natives of Europe and Ame- 
rica, which will grow in almost any 
soil and situation. 

Pu v nica. — Granatdcetz or Myr- 
tacece. — The Pomegranate is a very 
handsome deciduous shrub or low 
tree, which, in the climate of Lon- 
don thrives against a conservative wall, 
and produces fruit which attain their 
full size, though they but seldom 
ripen. The fruit, which is of a glo- 
bular shape and retains the calyx, has 
been admired for its form from the 
earliest ages, and is one of the most 
conspicuous ornaments directed to be 
used in the construction of Solomon's 
temple. There is a double-flowered 
variety, which, during the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries, was the 
most favourite plant in Continental 
and British orangeries next to the 
Orange and the Lemon ; and there 
is also a dwarf double-flowered va- 
riety, which, when kept in a green- 
house, produces its flue vermilion 
flowers from August to November. 
The plant requires loamy soil and an 
airy situation ; and care should be 
taken in pruning it not to cut out the 
small lateral twigs or spurs, on which 
alone the blossoms are produced, 
which should be left projecting from 
the wall. It strikes root freely from 
ripened cuttings and layers, and the 
yellow and the white-flowered varie- 
ties are sometimes grafted on the 
common kind. 

Pu'rshia. — Rosacea. — A little 
North American shrub with small 
yellow flowers, which is quite hardy, 
and should be grown in sandy peat. 
It is propagated by layers. 

Pyre'thrum. — Composite. — 
Feverfew. Most of the species are 
hardy perennials, which only require 
planting in the open garden and the 
usual treatment of perennial plants. 
According to the latest arrangements 



of botanists, the Chinese Chrysanthe- 
mums are now included in the genus 
Pyrethrum. 

Py v rus. — Rosacea. — The Apple 
and Pear Trees. The different kinds 
of Crabs and Pears are very orna- 
mental from their blossoms, independ- 
ently of the utility of the fruit of 
some of the species. The ornamental 
kinds are all low trees, admirably 
adapted for the lawn or the shrub- 
bery ; they are all of easy culture in 
any common garden soil ; and they 
are propagated by grafting the 6ner 
on the more common kinds. To 
thrive and look well, however, they re- 
quire an airy situation, and not to be 
crowded among other trees. Most of 
the species, and especially the Crabs, 
are very liable to be attacked by in- 
sects in the leafing and flowering sea- 
sons ; and they should then be care- 
fully watched, and the caterpillars 
picked off as soon as they are visible. 
Among the kinds most worthy of 
notice are the following : Pyrus spec- 
tdbilis, the Chinese Crab or Garland- 
flowering Wild Apple, producing the 
most showy flowers of the whole ge- 
nus in May, and as hardy as the com- 
mon Crab or Wild Pear. P. coro- 
naria, the Sweet-scented Crab, with 
large and beautiful pink blossoms, 
highly fragrant, as is the first. P. c. 
angustifolia, the narrow-leaved 
Sweet-scented Crab, with blossoms 
as beautiful as the former, and with 
the leaves sub-evergreen. This, and 
the two preceding kinds, have the 
fruit green when ripe, andfragrant, but 
it is not good to eat. Pyrus baccata 
and P. prunifolia, the two kinds of 
Siberian Crab, have very showy blos- 
soms, and small red or yellow fruit, 
useful in cookery. These are the 
principal ornamental species of the 
Crab or Apple kind, unless we except 
one, the Moscow or Transparent Crab, 
Pyrus Astracdnica, which has fruit 
almost as large as a golden Pippin, 



PY V RUS. 



237 



PY BUS. 



wax-coloured, and almost transparent 
when ripe. Though commonly cul- 
tivated for its fruit, as useful for the 
table, it well deserves a place on the 
lawn as an ornamental plant, from 
the extraordinary beauty of the Crabs. 
The ornamental Pears are the follow- 
ing : P. salvifblia, which has woolly 
leaves like those of the Sage, and, 
like all the Pears, white flowers ; this ' 
peculiarity, independently of other 
marks, distinguishing them from the 
Apples, which have always reddish 
flowers. P. amygdalceformis is an- 
other ornamental species, which has 
silvery- white leaves, and fruit shaped 
like that of the Almond ; and to 
these may be added, P. eleagnifblia, 
which has long narrow white leaves 
like those of the Eleagnus ; P. sali- 
cifblia, with long, narrow, silky 
leaves like those of the willow ; and 
P. nivalis, which has round leaves of 
a snowy whiteness. All these species 
have small green fruit not good to eat ; 
but the trees are most ornamental 
from their shape and the singular co- 
lour of their foliage. The following 
kinds of Pyrus belong to the section 
A'ria. P. Aria, and its varieties, P. 
A. angustifblia and P. A. cretica, 
the White Beam Tree, are admired 
for the beauty of their leaves, which 
are green above and white beneath, 
and for the bright scarlet fruit which 
they produce in great abundance. P. 
vestlta, the Nepal White Beam 
Tree, is a rare and beautiful object, 
as its leaves, which are clothed with 
a thick white wool beneath, are of a 
large size, and dye off in autumn of a 
most beautiful pale yellow. Other 
ornamental species of Pyrus are as 
follows : P. variolosa, remarkable 
for the varying forms of its foliage, 
which is sometimes pinnate, like that 
of the Mountain Ash, and sometimes 
deeply lobed and cut, like that of the 
Hawthorn, or entire and cordate and 
pointed, like that of the Pear. It is 
somewhat tender, and thrives best in 



a sheltered situation, or against a wall. 
P. tormindlis, the Griping Wild Ser- 
vice Tree, is remarkable for the beauti- 
ful form of its leaves, which, however, 
are unfortunately very apt to be eaten 
by insects. The buds are large, of a 
beautiful green, and very ornamental 
in the winter season. Pyrus aucu- 
paria, the Mountain Ash, is a well- 
known small tree, beautiful both 
when in flower and in fruit, and worth 
cultivating for its foliage alone. 
Pyrus americana, the American 
I Mountain Ash, resembles the com- 
mon sort, but has larger leaves and 
smaller fruit, though it is of a much 
deeper red* Pyrus Sorbus, the com- 
mon Service Tree, has foliage like 
that of the Mountain Ash, but larger ; 
and the fruit resembles that of the 
common Pear, but much smaller, and 
not ornamental though it is eatable. 
Pyrus spuria, a native of Kams- 
chatka, has leaves like the elder, and 
small black fruit : the leaves of this 
species die off in autumn of an in- 
tensely deep purple, which is almost 
black. There is a pendulous variety, 
P. s. pendula, which is one of the 
most ornamental of drooping-branched 
small trees ; and, as neither the va- 
' riety nor the species exceed twelve 
feet or fifteen feet in height, they are 
admirably adapted for small gardens. 

The following kinds of Pyrus are 
shrubs, and very ornamental, both for 
their fruit and flowers : P. arbuti- 
folia, has white flowers and black 
fruit, and the leaves of this be- 
come of a beautiful red in autumn, 
there are six or eight varieties, com- 
monly treated as species ; P. chamce- 
mespilus, which has large white flow- 
ers and red or black fruit, and P. 
floribunda, which grows about four 
feet high, and sends down weeping 
branches all round, which are covered 
with such a profusion of white flowers 
during the flowering season, that the 
plant looks like a hillock covered with 
snow. These last-mentioned shrubby 



que'rcus. 



238 



RAKING. 



kinds are sometimes called Aronia. All 
the plants belonging to the genus Pyrus 
are quite hardy, and will grow freely 
in any common garden soil, and they 
may all be raised from seeds, or grafted 



on the Wild Crab, or Wild Pea* 1 , or 
on the Hawthorn, which, though be- 
longing to the genus Crataegus, is 
very nearly allied to Pyrus. 



Q. 



Quaking-grass. — See Briza. 

Qua'ssia. — SirnarubiacecB. — Stove 
shrubs, natives of the East Indies, 
the bark, wood, and root of which are 
so intensely bitter, that an extract 
from the bark of some of the species is 
used as a substitute for hops in 
making beer, and also as a poison for 
flies. Q. amara is very ornamental 
from its long upright racemes of bright 
scarlet flowers, the petals of which 
are curiously twisted together. The 
leaves also are very remarkable; they 
are impari-pinnate, with only two 
pairs of leaflets, the midribs of the 
leaflets, and also that of the main leaf, 
which is winged, being pink. The 
plants flower freely, if allowed plenty 
of heat. They should be grown in 
loam mixed with peat or sand; and 
they are propagated by cuttings. 

Queen's Needlework. — Spircea 
Salicifolia. — See Spiraea. 

Que'rcus. — Amentacece, or Cu- 
puliferce. — The Oak. The species 
are chiefly forest trees, but Q. Ilex, 
the evergreen Oak, and some of its 
varieties, may be treated as shrubs, 
and are very ornamental on lawns, 
and in pleasure-grounds. Some of 
the kinds of the Turkey Oak, Q. 
C err is, are also very ornamental, 
particularly Q. C. Lucombeana, 
which grows rapidly and forms a very 
handsome pyramidal tree. It ought 
however, to be purchased in pots, as 
it produces but few lateral roots, and 
seldom grows well, if it is trans- 
planted from the open ground. The 
American Oaks are very handsome, 
particularly for the colours their 
leaves take in winter. Q. coectnea, 
and Q. rubra, have deeply cut leaves, 



which become of a beautiful red in 
autumn ; as do the leaves of Q.palus- 
tris, which are more elegantly shaped 
than those of any of the other kinds. 
Some of the dwarf American bear 
Oaks, such as Q. Bamsteri, and Q. 
ilicifbiia, do not grow above two or 
three feet high ; and they are called 
bear Oaks, because in their native 
countries the bears can eat their 
acorns, without climbing. 

Quince. — See Cydonia. 

Quincunx. — A mode of planting 
trees in rows, by which the plants in 
one row are opposite the spaces in the 
next ; so as to form a succession of 
diamonds. See Jig. 27. 




27. 



f 

<0 J0 * 

TREES IN QUINCUNX. 

Quisqua v lis . — Combretacece. — A 
stove climber, a native of the East 
Indies, with singular flowers ; and 
large and handsome leaves. The 
flowers are shaped something like 
those of the Jasmine, but with an 
excessively long tube, and a very 
small limb, which when it first ex- 
pands is white, but which afterwards 
becomes pink, getting darker and 
darker, till it finally becomes of a 
blood-red. The plant should be 
grown in loam and peat, and it is pro- 
pagated by cuttings struck in sand 
under a hand-glass. 



ranu'nculus. 239 ranu'nculus. 



R. 



Ragged Robin. — See Lychnis. 
Ragwort. — See Othonna ; and 
Senecio. 

Rake, a well known toothed im- 
plement for raking the surface of dry 
ground, or collecting together grass on 
lawns which have heen mown, or 
weeds on surfaces which have heen 
hoed. There is also what is called 
the Daisy rake, in which the teeth or 
tines are lance-shaped, sharp at the 
edges, and so close together that when 
drawn or raked over the surface of a 
lawn they collect or cut off the heads 
or flowers of such plants as the Daisy, 
Crowfoot, Plantain, &c. The heads 
of rakes, or that part which contains 
the teeth or tines, are of different 
lengths, from six inches to two feet ; 
and the teeth, which are placed at 
from one inch to two inches apart, 
are from two inches to four in length. 
In raking dug soil with a view to 
render the surface even and fine, and 
also" to collect stones, roots, &c. the 
handle of the rake should be held 
close to the middle of the operator, 
so that the tines may pass through 
the ground at an angle less than 45° ; 
hut when weeds or short grass are to 
he raked up, or the heads of Daisies 
to be cut off, the handle of the rake 
must be held above the middle of the 
operator, so that the tines may form 
an angle with the soil above 45 n . In 
the latter case it is desirable that the 
tines should slide along the surface ; 
but in the former it is necessary that 
they should penetrate into it through- 
out nearly their whole length. 

Ranu'nculus. — Ranunculacece. — 
The Ranunculus. The species may 
be divided into two kinds : border 
flowers, and florists' flowers. The 
latter consist of some hundreds of 
varieties obtained from the species 
Ranunculus Asidticus, a native of 
the Levant with tuberous roots, which 
is rather too tender to endure the 



winter in the open air without some 
kind of protection. The wild plant 
grows naturally in Persia, in meadows 
which are moist during winter and 
in the growing season, but dry during 
great part of summer. Hence one of 
the first requisites in the culture of 
this flower is a loamy soil kept moist; 
and as the varieties are all double and 
in a highly artificial state, the soil re- 
quires to be made very rich with leaf- 
mould, or the mould of hot-bed dung. 
The common season for planting the 
Ranunculus is November; the roots 
may be placed about six inches apart 
every way, covered with two inches of 
soil, and protected by straw, mats, or 
rotten tan, during severe frosts. The 
plants will come into flower in July, 
and when the leaves wither, the roots 
may be taken up, dried in the shade, 
and preserved in a dry place till 
they are wanted for re-planting. A 
great many named kinds may be pro- 
cured in the seed-shops, the most dis- 
tinct of which are the Turban, or very 
dark red, the orange, the white, and 
the fine or cut-leaved. As the plant 
seeds freely even when semi-double, 
new sorts without end may be raised 
from seed, which may be sown in 
pots or flat pans as soon as it is 
gathered, and placed in a cold frame. 
Those persons who wish to gruw 
the Ranunculus as a prize flower, 
should consult Hogg's Treatise on 
the Ranunculus, or some other 
work exclusively devoted to florists* 
flowers ; but for private gardens, it 
may be sufficient to remark the fol- 
lowing particulars. The tubers, if 
kept dry, will retain their vitality 
for two or three years ; and hence, 
if roots which should be planted 
in November are kept out of the 
ground till the November follow- 
ing, and then planted and protected 
from frost, and when they appear 
above ground put into greenhouse 



ranu'nculus. 



2 



!40 



renanthe'ra. 



heat, they will flower at Christmas. 
If not planted till December, they 
will flower about the end of January, 
and if not planted till January, they 
will flower in March. In this way, 
by always having a stock of old roots, 
and planting some every month in 
the year, Ranunculuses may be had 
in flower, ail the year round. It is 
necessary, however, in the case of all 
those planted between March and 
November, to supply the beds abun- 
dantly with water, so as to keep the 
soil continually moist; and if they 
are not shaded during the mid-day 
sun, they will be very deficient both in 
size and colour. The common mode of 
propagating the Ranunculus is by sepa- 
rating the offsets from the larger roots. 

The common Crowfoots are Bri- 
tish weeds ; but there are several 
border flowers belonging to this 
family which are well deserving of 
cultivation, and of which the follow- 
ing are the most remarkable : R. 
aconitifoiias, the white - flowered 
Bachelor's Button, an old inhabitant 
of British gardens, prolific in double 
white flowers in May and June, and 
very ornamental ; R. acris fibre 
pleno, the double-flowered yellow 
Bachelor's Button, which flowers in 
June and July, is also a very de- 
sirable plant ; as are R. repens fibre 
pleno and R. bulbbsus fibre plena, 
both producing fine yellow double 
flowers in May and June. R. ne- 
morbsus, produces its yellow flowers 
from May to August ; and R.penn- 
sylvdnicus is rare and curious. R. 
illyricus is remarkable for its silky 
white leaves, and R. monspeliacus 
for its early flowers, Avhich are pro- 
duced in April. R. corticscefblius 
is handsome both for its foliage and 
flowers ; and R. rutcef alius is a low 
plant well adapted for pots or rock- 
work, producing abundance of pretty 
white flowers from May to July. R. 
platanifblius is rare in Biitish 
gardens, being commonly confounded 



with R. aconitifblius, from which it 
differs in growing to twice the height 
of that plant ; and in producing its 
flowers in June and July, while the 
other flowers iu May. R. plantagi- 
neus is very handsome, with glaucous 
lanceolate leaves and white flowers 
produced in April ; and R. angusti- 
fblius,R. ample xicaulis, R. parnas- 
sifblius, and R. gramineits, of which 
there is a double-flowered variety, are 
all very handsome and desirable spe- 
cies. 

Raphio'lepis. — Rosacece. — The 
Indian Hawthorn. Very elegant 
shrubs, natives of China, with white 
flowers, the centre of which is red ; 
the bark is also reddish ; and there is 
a reddish tinge in the leaves. The 
species are only half-hardy in Eng- 
land, and they are generally kept in 
the greenhouse, though they will 
grow in the open air against a conser- 
vative wall. The soil in Avhich they 
are grown should be avery sandy loam, 
or loam mixed with peat ; and they are 
propagated by cuttings of the ripe wood 
struck in sand under a bell-glass. 

Reamtj n ria. — Ficoidece. — A very 
pretty little shrub, with fleshy leaves, 
and bright purple flowers, very suit- 
able for rock work. It should be grown 
in peat and loam, or in heath mould, 
in rather a dry situation ; as it is very 
liable to damp off if grown in a moist 
situation in the shade. It prefers a 
warm sunny bank, where it flowers 
abundantly, and is very ornamental. 

Red Cedar. — See Juniperus. 

Renanthe^ra. — Orchidacecs. — 
The Chinese Air-plant. A very 
handsome genus of the East Indian 
Orchideous Epiphytes. It is a true 
parasite, and never flowers well in a 
pot. It is a climbing plant ; but it 
differs from all other climbers in at- 
taching itself to surrounding objects 
by its long fleshy roots, which it 
twines round any post or column 
within its reach, as other plants do 
their tendrils. Though the most 



RESERVE-GROUND. 241 RESERVE-GROUND. 



glowing accounts had been received 
of the splendour of the flowers of the 
Renanthera in China, it did not ap- 
pear likely to realise these descrip- 
tions in England ; and it was culti- 
vated in this country for above ten 
years, before it formed a single spike 
of flowers. At last the ingenious 
expedient was devised of wrapping the 
long flexible roots round with moss, 
and keeping this moss constantly 
moist ; and the result was, that the 
plant grew ten feet long, and pro- 
duced several spikes, varying from 
two feet to three feet in length, of 
brilliant scarlet flowers. It is now ge- 
nerally grown on pieces of wood with 
the bark on, hung from the rafters 
near a column of the stove, or orchi- 
deous house, round which the long 
roots are suffered to entwine them- 
selves, care being taken to wrap them 
in moist moss as they elongate them- 
selves ; and it is found that the plant 
flowers as freely as any other Orchi- 
deous Epiphyte grown in Britain. 

Reseda. — Resedacece. — There are 
many species of this genus, most of 
which are natives of the South of 
Europe and Egypt; but those best 
known in England are, Reseda 
lutebla, the dyer's- weed, which is a 
British plant ; and R. odorata, for the 
culture of which see Mignionette. 

Reserve-Ground. — In every gar- 
den accidents, diseases, and many 
other causes, occasion blanks or defor- 
mities in beds and borders, and the 
use of a reserve-ground is to contain 
a number of growing plants that at a 
moment's notice can be taken up and 
planted in the place of those which 
have ceased to be ornamental or de- 
sirable. Wherever there is a green- 
house it can hardly be kept in high 
order without a pit or frame in the 
reserve-ground for striking cuttings, 
and bringing forward plants to supply 
the place of those which are no 
loDger ornamental in the greenhouse ; 



and, particularly, for forcing bulbs 
and bringing forward annuals, such as 
Balsams, Schizantbus, &c, which 
are exceedingly ornamental when in 
flower, but without showy foliage at 
every other season. The reserve- 
ground, therefore, in point of extent, 
must bear some relation to the extent 
and the character of the garden which 
it is intended to supply. The smallest 
residence should have a few square 
yards of reserve-ground, including a 
pit, in an open airy situation, but 
concealed from the ornamental parts 
of the grounds ; and residences of 
twenty or thirty acres in extent will 
require several pits, and the sixth or 
fourth part of an acre as reserve- 
ground. Where there is a walled 
kitchen-garden, the reserve-ground 
may very conveniently be placed ad- 
joining the frame or forcing- ground, or 
form part of it ; and in places so 
small as to have no kitchen-garden, a 
concealed glade, open to the south, 
with or without a small pit or frame, 
will still be necessary. The grand 
points respecting a reserve - ground 
which it is desirable to impress on an 
amateur gardener are, first, that a re- 
serve-ground, including a pit, how- 
ever small it may be, is essential to the 
keeping in high order of every plot of 
garden-ground, even those in front of 
street-houses, and of every garden of 
plants in pots, even those kept in 
window-sills and balconies ; secondly , 
that the reserve-ground must be in an 
open airy situation, not shaded by 
trees ; thirdly, that the herbaceous 
plants planted in the open ground in 
the reserve-garden must be taken up 
with balls*of earth, and replanted twice 
or thrice a year, and the shrubs once 
a year ; and fourthly, that where there 
is a choice of soil that of the reserve- 
ground should be of a loamy nature, 
such as will adhere to the roots of the 
plants, and never of sand, which will 
drop away from them. Where there 
R 



rha'mnus. 



242 



RHJZO'PHORA. 



is no reserve-garden there is no pos- 
sible way by which even a street-gar- 
den, or the pots on a window-sill, can 
be kept always in the highest order, 
but by having recourse to the com- 
mercial gardener. 

Rest-harrow. — See Ono'nis. 

Rha'mnus. — Rhamndcece. — The 
Buck-thorn. Handsome deciduous 
and evergreen shrubs ; some of which 
almost attain the size and appearance 
of small trees, and others are pro- 
cumbent shrubs only fitted for rock- 
work. They are all however distin- 
guished by a stiff upright manner of 
growth, and numerous strong thorns, 
from which they derive their name of 
Buckthorn. The flowers are generally 
small and not ornamental, but the 
berries are very much so ; and the 
evergreen kinds are very valuable in 
shrubberies, from their hardiness and 
free habit of growth. The Alater- 
nus (Rhdmnus Alaternus) is parti- 
cularly valuable, because it bears 
coal smoke and the confined air of 
towns better than most other ever- 
greens. 

Rhdmnus cathdrlicus, the Purg- 
ing Blackthorn, is a deciduous shrub 
with large handsome leaves and showy 
berries. These berries when unripe 
are used for making a yellow dye, and 
they are sold for this purpose in the 
colour shops under the name of 
French berries ; when ripe, their 
juice mixed with alum forms what is 
tailed sap-green ; and if they are suf- 
fered to hang on the trees till au- 
tumn, their juice becomes purple. 
The Avignon berries, also used in 
dyeing yellow, are the fruit of R. in- 
fectorius, which is a native of France, 
near Avignon. R. saxdtilis, the 
Stone Buckthorn, which is a decidu- 
ous recumbent species, is a valuable 
plant for rockwork, or for clothing 
rocks or old walls, where it is desir- 
able to give a wild and natural ap- 
pearance to the scenery ; and R. ery- 



throxylon, the Red-wooded Buck- 
thorn, is very ornamental as a tufted 
bush among rocks near water. R. 
Frdngula, and R. latifolius, are low 
trees. All the species are quite hardy, 
and will grow in any common garden- 
soil, and in any situation that is tole- 
rably dry ; and they are all easily 
propagated by seeds and layers. 

Rhf/xia. — Melastomacece. — Flerb- 
aceous and shrubby plants, natives 
of America. R. virginica, which is 
the handsomest species, is quite hardy 
in peat earth, in a moist situation, and 
it produces its showy pink, or rather 
rose-coloured flowers, with conspicu- 
ous yellow stamens, in July and Au- 
gust. The leaves are strongly ribbed 
as in all the Melastomaceae, and 
slightly edged with pink. The 
shrubby species are more tender than 
the herbaceous ones, and they are 
generally kept in a greenhouse. 

Rhi'psalis. — Cdctece. — Very curi- 
ous succulent plauts, which are na- 
tives of both the East and West 
Indies. As the Opuntias may be 
said to be all leaves, and the differ- 
ent kinds of tree Cereus all stem, so 
the Rhipsalis may be considered all 
branches ; for the whole plant con- 
sists of a series of short round articu- 
lated branches, spreading in all direc- 
tions. The flowers of this genus 
differ from those of the Cacti gene- 
rally, in being small and not very 
handsome. They are generally yel- 
low. The species should all be grown 
in brick rubbish and sandy loam, and 
they should have very little water. 
The cuttings must be dried by laying 
them on a shelf for two or three days 
before they are planted. 

Rhizo'phora. — Rhizophbrece. — 
The Mangrove. These curious trees 
are natives of Madagascar and South 
Africa, where they are found growing 
on the sea-coast, and in marshy places 
on the banks of rivers. The seeds 
germinate in the capsule, and sending 



RHO'DANTHE. 



243 



rhodochi'ton. 



down roots become new plants while 
yet adhering to the parent branch. 
This singular property makes a grove 
of Mangroves have the appearance of 
a single tree ; and we read of parties 
sent to explore the rivers of East 
Africa having found it impossible to 
penetrate through the Mangroves, with 
which the rivers are lined. In Eng- 
land the plant is a stove shrub, which 
it is extremely difficult to keep alive, 
on account of the warmth and mois- 
ture it requires ; and which is not 
worth growing for either its flowers 
or fruit. 

Rhoda'nthe. — Composites. — A 
beautiful little annual plant, a native 
of the Swan River, whence its seeds 
were imported by Captain Mangles, 
who so well merits the gratitude of 
every lover of flowers for the nume- 
rous beautiful plants which he has 
been the means of introducing. The 
Rhodanthe is generally treated as a 
half-hardy annual, being sown on a 
hot-bed in February and planted out 
in May ; but it may be grown to an 
enormous size by the following treat- 
ment. The seed must be sown the 
first week in April, in a soil com- 
posed of three parts of heath-mould 
and one of loam ; and the young 
plants pricked out the first week in 
May into small thumb pots or sixties 
filled with a similar soil. In a week's 
time they should be shifted into pots 
a size larger ; they should then be 
suffered to remain a fortnight, after 
which they should be again shifted 
into larger pots and the blossom-buds 
pinched off. This shifting may be 
repeated five or six times, always 
pinching off the blossom-buds, till the 
plant has attained a large size and 
shrubby character, which will gene- 
rally be about the middle of August, 
and when it may be permitted to 
flower. A plant which had been 
treated in this manner, and which 
was given to me by Captain Man- 



gles, measured a foot and a half high, 
and four feet in circumference ; it 
had above a thousand blossoms on it 
expanded at one time ; and it conti- 
nued producing a succession of flow- 
ers from August to the middle of 
November. 

Rhodi x ola. — Crassidacece. — Rose- 
root. There are only two species of 
this genus ; one of which is a Bri- 
tish plant, strongly resembling the 
House-leek, with a thick fleshy root, 
smelling so much like a Rose as to 
have given the name to the genus. The 
flowers are yellow and terminal. The 
plant is a perennial, and should be 
grown in a moist situation on rock- 
woik. 

Rhodochi^ton. — Scrophularinece. 
— R. voliibile, formerly called Lo- 
phospermum Rhodochiton, is a Mexi- 
can climbing plant, with abundance 
of very handsome flowers. It was at 
first kept in the greenhouse, but it is 
now found to flourish most in the 
open air, as it will not flower well 
when its roots are confined. It should 
be planted in spring, in a pit about 
two feet square, formed in the open 
border, and filled with loamy soil, en- 
riched with leaf-mould or rotten ma- 
nure. As the plant grows, a little 
leaf-mould may be added from time 
to time over the roots ; and the plant 
must be trained up a wire frame, or 
against a conservative wall. When 
it has done flowering, it should be 
cut down to within a few inches of 
the ground, and covered with tan or 
sawdust, and a pot turned over it, the 
hole in the pot being stopped up to 
exclude the rain ; or what is better, 
the plant may be wrapped in moss 
and thus protected. The species is 
propagated by cuttings struck in spring 
or autumn, or by seeds sown on a 
hot- bed in February and planted out 
in May. When wanted for a bal- 
cony or gi'eenhouse, it may be grown 
in a pot, all that need be attended to 
R 2 



rhodode'ndron. 



244 



rhodode'ndron. 



being to grow the plant in good soil, 
and to allow it plenty of room for its 
roots. 

Rhodode'ndron. — Ericacece. — 
The Rose Bay. Well-known ever- 
green shrubs, and low trees, with 
splendid flowers ; which are generally 
grown in sandy peat, kept rather 
moist. Though one of the most com- 
mon of the kinds, R. ponticum, is a 
native of Asia Minor, and others are 
natives of other parts of Asia, and 
of Europe, the greater number of 
them being American, the part of 
the garden in which they are grown 
is generally called the American 
ground. The Rhododendrons vary 
very much in size, as well as in the 
colours of the flowers, some being 
trees and others trailing shrubs. The 
handsomest of the tree kinds is the 
Nepaul species, R. arboreum, which 
grows about twenty feet high, with 
immense bunches of dark scarlet or 
crimson flowers, which have the rich 
hue of velvet. These flowers secrete 
honey in such abundance, that when 
the tree is shaken the drops of liquid 
honey fall from it like rain. The 
leaves are large, and silvery beneath. 
There are several varieties, one of 
which has wax-like white flowers, 
and another cream-coloured flowers ; 
others have the leaves rusty beneath. 
Most of the tree Rhododendrons are 
too tender to stand the winter in the 
open air; but a rose-coloured va- 
riety of R. arborea, and that with 
snow-white flowers, are nearly hardy. 
Of the shrubby kinds, R. ponticum, 
which is quite hardy, is the most com- 
mon, and the one that has produced 
the greatest number of hybrids and 
varieties. Plants of this species are 
frequently trained with single stems 
four or five feet high before they are 
suffered to throw out side branches ; 
and thus treated they form very 
handsome small trees. R. maxi- 
mum, in America, attains the 



height of twelve or fifteen feet, but in 
England it neither grows nor flowers 
freely. The leaves are of a pale yel- 
lowish green, and they generally look 
drooping, as though the plant wanted 
water. It is remarkable that it was 
grown twenty years in England before 
it produced a single flower. In its 
native country it is always found 
growing upon rocks near water ; and 
it would probably thrive in a similar 
situation in this country. R. cataw- 
biense is a hardy American species, 
which flowers abundantly from June 
till August. It seldom grows above 
four feet high, but it forms a healthy- 
looking bush, perfectly covered over 
with flowers. The hybrids between 
this species and the Nepaul tree Rho- 
dodendron are very handsome. The 
principal dwarf species are, R. chrys- 
dnthum, with yellow flowers, R. 
ferrugineum, and R. hirsutum, 
with rose-coloured flowers, and R. 
caucdsicum, with purple or white 
flowers. All these scarcely exceed a 
foot in height, and some of them are 
not more than six inches. R. dauri- 
cum flowers from December till 
March, and the flowers of the species 
appear before the leaves, though there 
is a variety that is evergreen. It is 
very ornamental, and it is valuable 
from the early season at which it 
flowers. All the Rhododendrons are 
what is called hair-rooted plants ; and 
they are all grown in sandy peat, or 
in deep sandy loam. They may also 
be grown even in stiff clay, if it be 
kept moist; but the worst soil for 
Rhododendrons is that of a well-ma- 
nured garden, particularly if the si- 
tuation be a dry one ; as this kind of 
soil has not tenacity enough to enable 
it to adhere to the fine hair-like roots 
of these plants. All the Rhododen- 
drons may be propagated by cuttings 
of the young shoots, taken off while 
they are in agrowing state — by layers, 
and by seeds. The latter is the most 



RHUS. 



245 



RIBES. 



general mode, as the seeds, which are 
very small, and look like sawdust, are 
ripened in great abundance in the 
months of August and September ; 
and the seeds of the American kinds 
are imported every year in large quan- 
tities from America. All the Rho- 
dodendrons and Azaleas may be re- 
moved at almost any season, and 
when of almost any size, if taken up 
with a ball of earth round the roots. 
The best seasons, however, for re- 
moving them are spring and autumn. 
It may be observed that Rhododen- 
dron seed will remain good for several 
years, though, when practicable, it is 
best to sow it as soon as it is ripe, as 
the plants will come up much sooner. 
All Rhododendrons should be grown 
in a shady, moist situation, and they 
will all thrive under the drip of trees. 

Rhodo'ra. — Ericacece. — Rhodora 
canadensis, is a very pretty little 
plant, a native of Canada, resembling 
the dwarf Rhododendrons, excepting 
that the flowers are much smaller, and 
the leaves are deciduous. It is quite 
hardy, and only requires to be grown 
in peat earth, kept moist. It flowers 
in April. 

Rhu's. — Terebinthacece, or Ana- 
cardiacece. — Sumach. Deciduous 
shrubs, natives of Europe, Asia, and 
America, interesting from the beau- 
tiful colours which their leaves as- 
sume when dying off in autumn. All 
the kinds are more or less poisonous. 
Rhus Cotinus, the Virginian Su- 
mach, is called the Peri wig- tree both in 
French and German, from the curious 
appearance of its seed-vessels, which 
look like a powdered wig. It is a 
very ornamental shrub, often growing 
ten or twelve feet high, and flowering 
abundantly. It grows best in a dry 
loam, and it is propagated by layers. 
Rhus typhina, the Stag's-horn Su- 
mach, has received its name from the 
singular appearance of the young 
shoots, which are covered with a soft 



velvet-like down, resembling that of 
a young stag's horn, both in colour 
and texture. The leaves are impari- 
pinnate, with eight or ten pairs of 
leaflets, and they die off of a beautiful 
purplish red in autumn. The flowers 
are produced in terminal spikes, and 
they are succeeded by deep purplish- 
red woolly fruit. Rhus glabra, the 
scarlet Sumach, has red flowers, and 
rich velvet-looking dark-scarlet fruit, 
which becomes crimson as it ripens. 
Rhus vernicifera, the varnish ox- 
Japan Sumach, is a greenhouse plant 
in England, but in India, and in Japan, 
it is grown in large plantations, for its 
gum, which issues from the tree when 
wounded, and forms the finest varnish 
in the world. Rhus venenata, the 
swamp Sumach, or poison-wood, has 
so virulent a sap that it occasions fever 
and inflammation in those who cut it 
down. Even touching the plant, or 
smelling it, will in many cases pro- 
duce eruptions and swellings all over 
the body. The plant is not very 
handsome, but the leaves become of 
a brilliant red in autumn. R. cori- 
aria, the elm-leaved Sumach, and 
R. copallina, the gum-copal tree, 
resemble R. typhina ; and R. rddi- 
cans, the poison-oak, and R. toxico- 
dendron, the poison-vine, are poison- 
ous plants, natives of North Ameriea, 
resembling R. venenata. All the 
kinds of Rhus are of easy culture in 
any loamy soil ; and they may be all 
propagated by cuttings or layers. 
Several of the kinds may have their 
branches pegged down, and a little 
earth strewed over them, when they 
will strike root. 

Ribbon Grass. — Arundo Donax, 
var. versicolor. 

Ribes — Grossulacece. — The Cur- 
rant. The ornamental kinds of Ribes 
which have been introduced into 
British gardens since the commence- 
ment of the present century, are now 
some of our most beautiful shrubs. 



RIBES. 



246 



RICINUS. 



They are all quite hardy, and will 
grow without any trouble being taken 
with them, in any common garden- 
soil. The following kinds are those 
most deserving of cultivation for 
their flowers : — Ribes niveum, the 
snowy-flowered gooseberry, has white 
pendulous flowers, and dark purple 
fruit, the flavour of which is very 
agreeable ; R. specibsum, the fuchsia 
flowered gooseberry, the flowers of 
which are scarlet, with very long 
projecting stamens, somewhat resem- 
bling those of the Fuchsia, and the 
leaves sub-evergreen ; R. spicatum, 
the tree currant, which forms an 
erect fastigiate-growing shrub, six or 
eight feet high, with upright spikes of 
red fruit ; R. multiflbrum, a most 
beautiful plant, with long drooping 
racemes of greenish flowers, and large 
handsome leaves ; R. punctatum, an 
evergreen species, with shining leaves 
and golden yellow flowers, which are 
succeeded by red fruit ; R. Jloridum, 
the flowering black currant, with loose 
racemes of greenish-yellow flowers, 
and black fruit ; R. cereum, the 
wax-leaved currant, the leaves of 
which are round, and appear thinly 
covered with white wax ; R. san- 
guineum, the red-flowered black 
currant, a beautiful and well known 
species, of which there are several 
varieties ; and R. aureum, the 
yellow-flowered black currant. All 
these kinds are very beautiful ; but 
the most ornamental are Ribes san- 
guineum, and its varieties or allied 
species, R. glutinbsum, with pale 
pink flowers, and R. malvaceum,vnt\\ 
lilac ones, and also the dark red 
variety R. s. atro-rubens. There 
are also several kinds of R. aureum, 
all of which are well deserving of 
cultivation. All the kinds of Ribes 
are easily propagated by cuttings ; or 
by seeds, which most of the kinds 
ripen in abundance — and one kind, 
Ribes punctatum, sends up suckers. 



They are generally quite hardy ; but 
R. punctatum, being a native of 
Chili, succeeds best against a wall. 
R. sanguineum, and its allied species, 
are natives of California, and, like all 
the plants from that country, they 
are very liable to die off, if the collar 
of the root be exposed to the sun. 
Thus, a fine healthy plant of Ribes 
sanguineum, several feet high, and 
covered with flowers, will often wither 
and die away without any apparent 
cause ; but if the facts connected with 
it be closely examined, it will gene- 
rally be found that the ground in 
which the plant grows has become 
quite dry and powdery at the surface, 
so that the roots have been exposed 
to sufficient heat to wither them at 
the point of junction with the collar. 
This never occurs when the plant is 
suffered to remain in a state of nature, 
as it always sends out side-shoots near 
the ground, so as to shade its root ; 
but in gardens and shrubberies these 
side-shoots are frequently trimmed 
away from a mistaken idea of neat- 
ness. In its native country, also, 
the Ribes sanguineum always 
grows partly in the shade, and near 
water. The colour of the flowers 
varies very much according to the 
soil in which the plant is grown ; the 
darkest and brightest hues being ob- 
servable in those plants which are 
grown in calcareous soils, and the 
palest and least brilliant in those 
grown in sandy soils. Ribes aur- 
eum, the yellow-flowered currant, and 
its allied species and varieties, succeed 
best in gravelly soils, and appear in 
general very hardy. 

Rice. — See Oryza: 

Richardia AroidecB. — Kunth's 

name for Calla cethibpica. For the 
culture, &c, see Arum. 

Ricinus. — Euphorbiacece. — Pal- 
ma Christi. The castor-oil plant, 
Ricinus communis, is a half-hardy 
annual in this country, worth grow- 



ROBINIA. 



247 



ROCK WORK. 



ing for its splendid leaves and verj r ) 
curious flowers and seed-pods ; but j 
in the East Indies it becomes a tree. 
The oil is expressed from the seeds. 
When grown in England, the seeds 
should be sown in a slight hotbed in 
February, and the young plants re- 
moved to the open border in May. 
It should be grown in light rich soil, 
well manured with decayed leaves, 
and in a situation open to the sun. 

Ricotia. — Cruciferce. — A very 
pretty little annual nearly allied to 
Lumria, which only requires sowing 
in the open border in April. See 
Annuals. 

Ridging. — Throwing up ground 
in ridges, in order to expose it more 
thoroughly to the action of the weather. 
This operation is most useful in 
clayey soils, as the water freezing 
separates the particles of the clay, 
and lightens the soil ; and it is per- 
formed by opening a trench, and 
throwing up the ground so as to form 
a kind of hillock sloping on both sides. 

Robinia. — Leguminosm. — Orna- 
mental trees and shrubs, with long- 
drooping racemes of flowers. The 
common kinds of Robinia are gene- 
rally called Acacias in gardens ; though 
why this name has been given to 
them, unless from their pinnate 
leaves, which resemble those of the 
true Acacia, it would be difficult to 
say. The name of Locust, which is 
applied to Robinia Pseud-Acacia 
in America, also appears to have no 
definite meaning, unless it alludes to 
the leaves, which bear a very slight 
resemblance to those of Ceratbnia 
SH)qua,t\\e Locust Tree of Holy Writ. 
The flowers of all the kinds of Robi- 
nia are very handsome ; but the arbor- 
escent species are not handsome trees, 
from the liability of their branches to 
be broken off by high winds, which 
gives them a ragged and untidy ap- 
pearance; and the wood, notwithstand- 
ing the extravagant praises of Cobbett, 



is of very little value. The roots of 
the Robinia also extend just under 
the surface ; and thus a tree of this 
genus occupies nearly twice the extent 
of ground which would be taken up 
by a tree of the same size of almost 
any other kind. The shrubby kinds 
of Robinia are also liable to the same 
objections ; though the long racemes 
of rose-coloured flowers of the Rose 
Acacia ( R. luspida ) are so beauti- 
ful, that no shrubbery should be 
without it. All the Robiuias are 
quite hardy, and they may be grown 
in any soil, though they thrive most 
in a rather rich sandy loam ; care 
should be taken always to plant them 
in a sheltered situation, as no plants 
are more injured by high winds. They 
are propagated by seeds, layers, cut- 
tings, and suckers, which are produced 
in great abundance. When Robinias 
are raised from seed, the seeds should 
be steeped for twenty-four hours in hot 
water, before sowing; as unless this is 
done, they will sometimes remain 
in the soil tAvo years before they ger- 
miuate. When grown in strong clay, 
or in any moist soil, old trees of Ro- 
binia Pseud-Acacia are very often 
found, when cut dow r n, to be hollow 
at the heart. Several plants formerly 
considered to belong to Robinia, are 
now distributed through the genera 
Caragana, Halimodendron, &c. Of 
these, the most beautiful are the 
Caraganas — see Siberian Pea Tree ; 
and the Halimodendron, or Salt Tree. 
— See Halimodendron. 

Rocket. — See Hesperis. 

Rock cress. — See Arabis. 

Rock rose. — See Cistus. 

Rockwork is a very common orna- 
ment in gardens; and, producing a 
striking effect, it is introduced more 
frequently than judiciously. Rock- 
work may be divided into two kinds : 
that which is intended to imitate 
natural rocks, and that which is in- 
tended merely as a nidus for rock- 



ROCKWORK. 



248 



RCEMERIA. 



plants. Imitations of nature should 
always consist of large blocks of stone 
of the same kind, and should for 
the most part be disposed in imitation 
of some kind of stratification. At 
the same time, as in many parts of the 
country, large, round, orroundisb, or 
angular blocks of stone are found dis- 
tributed over the surface, it is not 
objectionable to collect these together 
in groups so as to form a feature in 
scenery, and to insert plants among 
them. Rockwork as a mere nidus 
for plants should never be attempted 
on a large scale without the introduc- 
tion of large blocks of stone, and 
some kind of sti'atification being 
adopted : and in this case, as before 
mentioned, using one kind of stone 
will produce an effect in accordance 
with that of nature. On a small scale, 
however, different kinds of stone may 
be used, more especially when these 
are well covered with plants ; but 
even on a small scale, one kind of 
stone has always a better effect, and 
will be felt more agreeable to the 
eye, than a mixture of bricks, 
flints, pieces of granite, freestones, 
and perhaps marble, shells, fragments 
of carved stones, and even roots, 
which are not unfrequently seen in 
even the best gardens. Rockwork 
should always be an independent fea- 
ture. It rarely looks well when 
piled up against a wall or around the 
roots of a tree, or in any situation 
where it is overshadowed by trees ; 
in short, where it does not form the 
prominent feature in the scene. It 
looks well near water and merging 
into it, or in an open airy garden 
where it is surrounded by a gravel- 
walk ; but it does not look so well 
when rising from turf, without an ad- 
joining walk, or when large shrubs 
grow up among the stones. Where 
there are collections of such plants as 
Saxifrages or other alpines, or of 
Cistuses, Helianthemums, or other 



mountain shrubs, rockwork is very 
desirable ; and in such cases, it may 
be placed on a lawn, as a feature in a 
general collection of herbaceous plants 
or shrubs arranged according to the 
natural system : but rockwork as an 
ornamental object, or as a nidus for a 
miscellaneous collection of plants, 
should always be in an open airy 
situation near a pond, or surrounded 
by a walk. In short, it may be laid 
down as a general principle that rock- 
work should either adjoin gravel or 
a piece of water, and should seldom 
or never adjoin trees or grass ; or 
walls or buildings. 

One of the most common faults in 
rockwork is the indiscriminate mix- 
ture together of all sorts of stones, 
bricks, shells, fragments of statuary 
or sculpture, and even roots of trees ; 
which latter object, though very suit- 
able as receptacles for plants, should 
always be arranged in masses apart 
from any intermixture of stones. — 
See Rootwork. 

Rodriguezia. — Orchidacea. — 
Orchideous Epiphytes, natives of 
tropical South America. R. secunda 
has beautiful pink flowers ; but the 
other species have generally drooping 
racemes of greenish yellow flowers, 
more graceful than positively beauti- 
ful. All the kinds should be grown 
iu moss, and they all succeed better 
on wood than in pots. — See Orchi- 
deous Epiphytes. 

Roe x lla. — Campanulacece. — 
Cape plants, generally with blue 
flowers, which have somewhat of the 
dazzling glossy hue of Venus's Look- 
ing-glass. The shrubby kinds are of 
low growth, and rather difficult to 
propagate ; but the annual species are 
of very easy culture, and only require 
the usual treatment of half-hardy 
annuals. — See Annuals. 

Rcemeria. — Papaveraceee. — The 
purple Horned -Poppy. This is a very 
beautiful flower; but unfortunately. 



ROOTWORK. 



249 



ROOTWORK. 



its beauty is so very short-lived that 
it is difficult to find a perfect flower, 
as one or two of its petals drop almost 
as soon as the flower expands. It is 
quite hardy, and only requires to 
have its seeds sown in the open 
border in April. 

Rolling. — Gravel walks cannot be 
kept in proper order without frequent 
rolling; and this rolling is most 
efficacious when the ground is moist 
below, but the upper surfac? is dry. 
On this account the best time for 
rolling is a fine dry day, after two or 
three days' rains ; and when rolling 
is necessary in continued dry weather, 
the walk should be previously 
watered. Turf should also be rolled 
occasionally, to prevent its surface 
from becoming uneven. 

Rondele v tia. — Rubiacece. — 
Beautiful stove plants, with white, 
pink, or scarlet flowers, natives of the 
East and "West Indies. R. odorata, 
which is the most common, has ter- 
minal corymbs of scarlet flowers 
greatly resembling those of Iocora 
coccinea. It should be grown in a 
moist stove, in peat, sand, and loam, 
the pots being well drained with pot- 
sherds and cinders. The floAvers are 
produced in great abundance, and 
they are very fragrant as well as 
beautiful. 

Rootwork. — The roots of trees 
and especially large roots, including 
the stool, or base of the tree after the 
trunk has been cut down to the 
ground, may be combined together in 
various ways useful, ornamental, or 
curious, in gardening. Two or three 
large stools of trees grouped together 
on a lawn with mould and plants 
placed in their interstices, form a 
striking contrast to the smoothness 
and high art displayed on the general 
surface of the lawn. The plants 
placed among the roots, whether in 
pots concealed by mosses, stones, or 
mould, or planted in soil, should 



never be of indigenous kinds common 
in the locality ; for these might be 
mistaken for weeds ; but of exotic 
kinds, such as Geraniums, Petunias, 
Maurandyas, &c. or of British or 
European alpines of small size, neat 
foliage, and brilliant flowers. The 
idea to be kept in view is, that of 
creating artificial ornaments without 
much expense ; and therefore, the 
roots must never appear to have been 
left where they are by carelessness or 
accident, but placed by design, and 
with reference to the composition of 
which they form a part. In many 
situations, conglomerations of roots as 
a receptacle for plants are more pleas- 
ing than conglomerations of stones ; 
because they display less effort, and 
seem a more natural and easy way of 
obtaining a nidus for ornamental 
plants. Too much effort and ex- 
pense for attaining any object is never 
altogether so satisfactory, as when the 
same object is obtained with ease and 
economy. Hence rustic seats in a 
pleasure-ground, and rustic vases, or 
other vessels for containing plants, are 
more satisfactory than cast-iron seats 
or marble vases, unless indeed the 
latter are connected with some 
building. 

Roots may also be combined to- 
gether so as to form seats, open or 
covered huts, grotto-like structures, 
and grotesque bridges ; and one object 
for which they are particularly suit- 
able is for placing on the margin of 
pieces of artificial water along with 
ti'ees, bushes, or plants. A smooth 
expanse of water, like a smooth lawn, 
requires shade and roughness to con- 
trast with it, in order to produce a 
striking effect ; and roots at once sup- 
ply both roughness and shade. In 
placing them, a part of the root should 
always be covered by the water, and 
another part by the soil ; and by 
planting a young tree or bush adjoin- 
ing the root, a double contrast is pro- 



ROSA. 



250 



ROSA. 



duced between the root, which gives 
the idea of an aged tree long since 
felled or dead, and the erect young 
shoot which foretells a future tree. 
The shadow of the group so formed 
in the water is a circumstance that 
redoubles the interest. 

Roots may be piled up, and con- 
nected together by dowels or wooden 
pegs, so as to form arches, arcades, or 
covered ways, or grottoes, or other 
structures for shelter or repose ; the 
interstices being filled in with moss 
or heath, and the exterior being 
thatched with heath, or the chips or 
shavings from hoops common in 
countries which abound in coppice- 
wood, such as Sussex, Roots also 
may be piled up so as to form gro- 
tesque fences, which are suitable for 
certain situations and purposes. A 
flower garden in a wood or seques- 
tered glen, surrounded by a fence of 
this kind, has sometimes a striking 
effect ; and sometimes the area of 
gravel before the entrance front of a 
villa is separated from the lawn by 
an irregular ridge of roots varied by 
greenhouse plants with the pots con- 
cealed. 

A very common error in the use of 
roots, is that of mixing them with 
stones in rockwork, which has been 
already pointed out. — See Rockwoiik. 

Rosa. — Rosacea. — The Rose-tree. 
Of all flowers none are more beautiful 
than roses ; and none better reward 
the care of the cultivator. Roses are 
natives of Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America, but none have yet been 
found in Australia. The number of 
roses is almost incredible, above a 
hundred distinct species have been 
described, and there are above two 
thousand named varieties to be pro- 
cured in the nurseries. In this 
chaos, all that can be done in a work 
like the present is, to give a slight 
sketch of the different kinds of roses 
grown in British gardens, with a few 



particulars of the more remarkable 
species. The best known and most 
common kind of rose is the cabbage or 
Provence rose {Rosa centifolia). 
This species is a native of Eastern 
Caucasus, whence it was brought at a 
very early period. There are more 
than a hundred varieties of it ; all 
very beautiful and very fragrant, and 
all distinguished by their close cab- 
bage-like form, the curving inwards 
of their petals, and their slender foot- 
stalks, Avhich give a peculiarly graceful 
and drooping appearance to the full- 
blown flowers. The moss roses are 
all varieties of the cabbage. All the 
cabbage roses may be grafted standard 
high on briars of the common dog 
rose : and they all require a richly 
manured soil, and an open situation. 
The French or Provins rose (Rosa 
gallicd) is a compact erect-growing 
plant with large open flat flowers 
borne on stiff erect flower-stalks ; 
thus forming as strong a contract as 
possible to the cabbage rose. This 
rose is found wild in France, and it 
is grown on a large scale near the 
little town of Provins in the depart- 
ment of the Seine et Marne, and also 
at Fontenay-aux-Roses near Paris, 
for the purpose of making conserve of 
roses. There are more than a hun- 
dred varieties of this rose. The 
French roses do not require a rich 
soil, and they are never grown as 
standards. Rosa damascena or the 
perpetual rose differs from R. centi- 
folia, in the large size of its prickles, 
the greenness of its bark, its elon- 
gated fruit, and its long reflexed sepals. 
There are above a hundred varieties 
of these roses, the most beautiful of 
which is Lee's perpetual or the rose 
du roi. These roses are very fra- 
grant, and they continue blossoming 
till November. As the perpetual 
roses are of very luxuriant growth, 
and as they produce abundance of 
flowers, they should be grown in very 



ROSA. 



25 



i 



ROSA. 



rich soil, and their shoots not cut in. 
Rosa indica, the Chinese or monthly 
rose, is the parent of another large 
family of roses, comprising upwards 
of two hundred varieties and hybrids; 
the most interesting of these are the 
tea-scented roses, and the Noisettes. 
The tea-scented roses are delicate 
little plants, with large drooping 
flowers, and they are supposed to be 
hybrids between the common and the 
yellow Chinese roses ; they are 
rather tender, and should be grown 
against a south wall in a raised border 
composed of equal parts of vegetable 
mould, light loam, and sand. Many 
cultivators take them up in Novem- 
ber, and keep the roots in a pot in a 
greenhouse, or laid in mould in a 
shed, till spring, when they may be 
planted out again into the open gar- 
den. The Noisettes are supposed to 
arise from a hybrid between the Chi- 
nese rose and the Musk rose, raised 
by M. Philip Noisette at Charleston 
in North America. This kind of 
rose is very hardy, and a most abun- 
dant flowerer, sixty or eighty flowers 
having been produced in one cluster ; 
it is admirably adapted for standards 
and for rose pillars. There are 
nearly a hundred different kinds of 
Noisette roses. 

The climbing Roses are of four 
different kinds ; the Ayrshire, the 
evergreen, the cluster-flowered, and 
the Boursault The Ayrshire climb- 
ing Roses, are all varieties of R. 
arvensis, a trailing plant, which, 
when left on the ground in moist 
places, will throw out roots at every 
joint ; but they are climbers by 
elongation, stretching themselves up- 
wards through a mass of hedges and 
bushes, and covering them with 
flowers. The branches are in general 
slender and feeble ; and where they 
have no support they are apt to be- 
come entangled with each other. All 
the Ayrshire Roses grow vigorously, 



sometimes making shoots twenty feet 
long in one season. The evergreen 
Rose (R. sempervirens) is a native 
of the south of Europe, greatly resem- 
bling the Ayrshire Rose in its flowers, 
but differing in its leaves, which are 
smooth, leathery, and evergreen. The 
evergreen Roses do not make such 
vigorous shoots as the Ayrshire Roses, 
and consequently are not so valuable 
as climbers, but they are much more 
so as undergrowth, for covering the 
ground in shrubberies, as they grow 
and flower freely under the drip of 
trees. When thus trained the shoots 
should be spread over the ground they 
are intended to cover, and pegged 
down near a joint, which will throw 
out roots, and the plant will thus 
grow vigorously. A sloping bank 
covered with these Roses in front of a 
breakfast -room window has a beautiful 
effect. They also look well grafted 
on low standards of the common dog 
Rose, as the shoots will descend all 
round and form a cone or pyramid of 
Roses. The many or cluster flow- 
ered Rose (i?. multifiord) is a beau- 
tiful plant, bearing large clusters of 
Roses ; sometimes of more than fifty 
Roses in one cluster. More than 
three thousand Roses have been 
counted on a plant of this species at 
one time. The seven sisters' Rose 
(R. m. Grevillei) is a variety of 
this species. The Boursault Rose is 
generally considered by botanists to be 
another variety of R. multijlora, but 
it differs from that species in several 
important particulars. It is a hard- 
wooded durable Rose, producing abun- 
dance of flowers, and growing freely ; 
the shoots, which are of a purplish 
red, and almost without thorns, being 
often fifteen feet long in one season. 
The flowers appear very early, and are 
remarkable for their reticulated petals. 
All these Roses may be made to 
form beautiful objects on a lawn by 
training them up parasol- wires, which 



ROSA. 



25: 



1 2 



ROSA. 



may be purchased at any ironmonger's, 
or up a pyramid. The latter may be 
made either of iron rods and wire, 
or of three pieces of wood, with 
holes bored in them at regular 
distances, through which narrow- 
laths may be passed. It is useful to 
put a ball and spike on the top of 
this figure, to prevent birds from 
settling on it, which they would be 
very apt to do, and would dirty the 
flowers and foliage beneath. Climbing 
Roses may also be trained over trel- 
lis-work, or up the trunks of trees ; in 
which last case they should be allowed 
to climb through the head of the tree, 
and to hang down from the branches 
in wild and graceful festoons. 

Musk Roses (Rosa moschafa) 
form another family of Roses, though 
not a numerous one, as there are not 
above ten or twelve kinds ; they have 
very long slender branches, which 
being too weak to support alone their 
large bunches of flowers, should be 
trained against a wall. These Roses 
never require pruning (except to cut 
out the dead wood), as the flowers are 
only produced at the extremity of the 
shoots. The Banksian Roses (R. 
Banksice), which are of two kinds, 
one with buff flowers and the other 
with white ; the Macartney Roses 
(R. bracteata and R. microphylla) 
and some others, are natives of China, 
and rather tender in England, requir- 
ing to be trained against a wall, and 
to receive a little protection in severe 
winters. R. Alpina, the Alpine 
Rose, of which there are a great num- 
ber of varieties ; R. lutescens, the 
yellow American Rose ; and R. spi- 
nosissima, the Scotch Rose, of which 
there are almost innumerable va- 
rieties, are hardy, early-flowering 
Roses, that will grow in almost any 
soil or situation. R. sulphured, the 
double yellow Rose, is, however, more 
difficult to manage. This beautiful 
rose, which till lately was only 



known in a double state, has large 
drooping flowers, shaped like those of 
the common Cabbage Rose, and is 
supposed to be a native of Persia. 
In some situations it grows freely, but 
in others the flower-buds burst on one 
side, when only half formed, and the 
flowers are thus imperfect. It should 
be grown in an open airy situation, in 
a light free soil, and it should have 
abundance of light and air. It should 
be well supplied with water during 
the flowering season, but the ground 
in which it grows should be so well 
drained as never to allow the water to 
remain in a stagnaut state about the 
roots. "When trained against a wall, 
it should have a north or eastern 
exposure rather than a southern one ; 
and the shoots should never be cut in. 
This Rose, in fact, does not require 
any pruning, except what may be 
necessary to remove the dead wood ; 
or to train the plant into shape, 
though the latter should be avoided 
as much as possible, as all wounds on 
this Rose are apt to produce canker. 
It is said to flower freely when 
grafted on the musk cluster at eight 
or ten feet from the ground, or on 
the common China Rose, but I have 
never seen the experiment tried. The 
most beautiful yellow Roses I ever 
saw were in the neighbourhood of 
Worcester, where the plant had grown 
in a border in front of a south-eastern 
wall, and had been partly trained 
against it, though for some time 
before I saw it, probably two or three 
years, it had evidently been left en- 
tirely to Nature. A plant supposed 
to be the single state of this Rose, 
was imported about 1835, by Sir 
Henry Willich, from Persia, and 
flowered for the first time in England 
in the garden of the London Horti- 
cultural Society, in the summer of 
1840. 

There are many other Roses not 
included in the foregoingenumeration; 



ROSA. 



253 



ROSA. 



the best known of "which are the 
■white Rose, Rosa alba, with its nu- 
merous varieties ; the yellow Austrian 
Rose, R. lutea, which has the petals 
scarlet above and yellow beneath ; the 
Sweet Briar or Eglantine, R. rubi- 
ginosa, with its very numerous va- 
rieties ; the common Dog Rose or 
briar, R. canina, which is common 
in the hedges in England, and its 
multitude of varieties ; the ever- 
flowering dark-crimson Chinese Rose, 
R. semperflorens ; and the Fairy 
Rose, R. Lawrenceana. To these 
may be added the Isle of Bourbon 
Roses, R. Bourboniana, the origin of 
which is uncertain, but which are gene- 
rally supposed to be hybrids between 
the common China monthly Rose (i?. 
indica) and the Rose a-quatre-saisons 
(R. Damascena). The Bourbon 
Roses are very beautiful ; they are 
large and rather flat, with rich velvet- 
like petals much darker inside the 
flower than on the outside. They 
flower in autumn, and they grow best 
in dry sandy soils, unless they are 
grafted standard high on the Dog 
Rose, when they should be manured 
like other standard Roses. 

All Roses require a rich and free 
soil, and plenty of pure air. They 
are not so particular with respect to 
light, as they will flower beautifully 
in situations which are shaded, at 
least during part of the day ; and in 
fact, appear to prefer partial shade to 
constant exposure to the sun. Coal- 
smoke is very injurious to them. 
Roses are frequently planted in Rose- 
gardens or Rosariums, in which each 
kind of Rose is contrived to fill a 
separate bed, and these beds are ar- 
ranged so as to form a regular figure 
like a geometric flower-garden. Py- 
ramids or pillars of Roses are formed 
by twining the climbing kinds against 
framework ; or they may be trained 
over arcades, or so as to form baskets 
like that shown in Fig. 11, p. 104. 



The Rose is generally propagated by 
budding or grafting the finer kinds on 
the common briar, or by layers. New 
varieties are also raised from seed ; 
and the dwarf kinds are propagated by 
cuttings, most of the leaves of which 
should be left on, see Fig. 24, "p. 231. 
Roses should be generally planted in 
autumn ; but some of the more tender 
Chinese and Musk Roses, may be 
planted in spring. A pit should be 
dug about two feet square every way, 
and half-filled with very rotten ma- 
nure or vegetable-mould mixed with 
an equal portion of pit-sand ; or if the 
soil be naturally sandy, with equal 
parts of sand and loam. Every fifth 
or sixth year the Roses should be 
taken up, their roots shortened, and 
replanted in fresh soil, the old soil 
being removed ; and every year, in 
March, about half a barrowful of 
rotten manure should be laid on 
the surface of the ground, round 
the stem of the tree and spread out 
so as to cover the roots ; the unplea- 
sant appearance of the manure being 
concealed by covering it with turf or 
stones. The pruning of Roses is a 
subject on which there are many dif- 
ferent opinions, and Roses are gene- 
rally cut in every year in October or 
March, so as not to leave more than 
three or four buds on each shoot. An 
opinion, however, appears to be gain- 
ing ground among gardeners, that this 
pruning has been carried too far, and 
that many kinds, particularly all the 
climbing Roses, ought not to be 
pruned at all. Roses are so easily 
forced, that, with a very little trouble, 
they may be had in flower every 
month in the year. For instance, 
some Moss Roses may be taken up as 
soon as they have done flowering, and 
having been put into pots and pruned, 
they may be kept in a shady situation 
in the open air till wanted for forcing. 
Those that are wanted to blossom at 
Christmas, should be plunged into a 



ROSA. 



254 



ROSE ACACIA. 



hot-bed, or put into a hothouse the 
1st of October; those put into the 
hothouse in November will flower in 
January and February; and so on, 
always calculating that the plants will 
flower about two months after they 
are placed in the hothouse or frame 
During the forcing they should be 
supplied abundantly with water of the 
same temperature as the house in 
which they are kept ; and the heat 
they are kept in should never be less 
than 60° at night: The China Rose 
may be made to flower all the winter 
by keeping it in a greenhouse at 50°, 
and having pinched off all its flower- 
buds in summer and autumn. 

The insects that attack Rose-trees 
are very numerous. Perhaps the most 
troublesome are the Aphides (see 
Aphis) which cover the tender shoots 
in summer and autumn. The cater- 
pillars of several small moths are also 
very destructive to Rose-trees. One 
of these, which is called a leaf-miner, 
lives within the leaf, where it feeds 
upon the pulpy matter, leaving traces 
of its course by a number of pale yel- 
low zig-zag lines, which are occasioned 
by the skin of the leaf withering when 
deprived of the pulpy matter which 
supported it. The perfect insect is 
called the red-headed moth (Microse- 
tia ruficapitella) ; and it is so small, 
that even with its wings expanded it 
does not measure more than a quar- 
ter of an inch. Another very destruc- 
tive insect is the maggot or grub of 
one of the saw-flies. The perfect 
insect, which is a beautiful creature, 
with transparent wings, lays its eggs 
in the flower-bud ; and in this the 
grub is hatched, eating its way out 
and destroying the petals that it 
passes through. Other insects are a 
kind of leaf-rollers, not exactly like 
those that infest the oak, but a spe- 
cies of the genus Lyda (belonging: to 
the Tenthredmidce), which construct 
a portable case in which they enfold 



themselves, of pieces of leaves, which 
they cut out and fasten together in a 
spiral direction. Besides, there is the 
rose-moth, a species of Tortrix, which 
fastens the bud, bya number of slender 
threads, to one of the leaves, which it 
doubles up like the folds of a fan. 

The only sure remedies for all 
these insects are hand-picking and 
frequent syringing. Tobacco- water is 
also used ; and this is made by pour- 
ing a gallon of boiling water on half 
a pound of the best shag tobacco, and 
letting the decoction remain till it is 
cold. The infected shoots should 
then be dipped in the tobacco-water, 
and suffered to remain in it about a 
minute, and then washed with clean 
water. If the tobacco-water be suf- 
fered to dry on the plants, it will 
blacken the young shoots ; and the 
l'emedy will thus be worse than the 
disease. Lime-water is also some- 
times used, but no more lime should 
be put into the water than to make it 
look slightly milky ; and the leaves 
should be washed after it has been 
suffered to remain on a short time. 
Dipping the shoots in clean water, 
and laying them on in one hand, while 
a soft brush is gently passed over 
them with the other, is also found 
efficacious. 

Roscoea. — Scitaminece. — Hand- 
some stove-plants, somewhat resem- 
bling the Indian shot. They should 
be grown in loam, peat, and sand ; 
and they are increased by dividing the 
root. '\ 

Rose. — See Rosa. 

Rose Acacia. — Robinia hispida. 
— A very handsome shrub with pin- 
nate leaves, and long drooping ra- 
cemes of rose-coloured flowers. It 
will grow in any soil, but it should 
be placed in a sheltered situation, on 
account of the brittleness of its 
branches, and their liability to be 
broken off by high winds. See Ro- 
binia. 



ROTATION OF CROPS. 



255 



RUBBISH. 



Rose Bay. — See Rhododendron 
and Oleander. 

Rose Campion. — Agrostemrna. — 
The very pretty flowers known by 
this name are now included in the 
genus Lychnis. Many of the kinds 
are annuals ; but the common Rose 
Campion, A. coronaria, is a peren- 
nial. 

Rosemary. — See Rosmarinus. — 

Rose of Heaven. — Agrostemrna 
or Lychnis Cceli Rosa, an orna- 
mental annual from the Levant, 
quite hardy in British gardens. 

Rose of Jericho. — Anastdtica 
hierochuwina.- -Acruciferous annual 
from the Levant, of no beauty, but 
curious from the manner in which its 
branches curl round the seeds when 
they are ripe. The end of the shoot 
containing the seeds thus protected, 
falls off, and is blown by the wind 
from place to place without discharg- 
ing the seeds, so long as it is dry ; but 
as soon as the ball reaches a moist 
place, where the seeds can germinate, 
the protecting branches relax, and the 
seed drops out. 

Rose-root — See Rhodiola. 

Rosmarinus. — Labiatce. — The 
Rosemary, R. officinalis, is a well- 
known shrub, which will thrive in 
any sheltered situation, but which is 
liable to be injured by frost in severe 
winters. It will grow in any com- 
mon garden-soil ; and it is propagated 
by cuttings, planted in spring. 

Rotation of Crops. — It has been 
found by a series of experiments that 
the same kind of annual plant should 
never be grown for more than two 
years in succession in the same ground, 
without manuring or renewing the 
soil ; as plants either throwout a quan- 
tity of excrementitious matter which 
they will not reimbibe, or exhaust the 
soil of all those properties which are 
nourishing for them. The ground, 
however, which thus becomes unfit 
for one kind of plant is found to be 



suitable for another kind quite differ- 
ent ; and the making these plants 
succeed each other in a proper manner 
is called the rotation of crops. Peren- 
nial plants, and trees and shrubs, are 
not so liable to injury from their poi- 
soning the soil, as they elongate their 
roots every year, so as to have their 
spongioles always in fresh soil ; but 
some shrubs, such as Roses, which 
never have long roots, should either 
be transplanted every third or fourth 
year, or have manure laid on the sur- 
face of the soil, to supply them with 
fresh food. 

Rotheap is a heap composed of 
sand, and such fruit as haws, holly- 
berries, ashkeys, hornbeam-nuts, and 
similar seed-vessels, which is turned 
over several times in the course of 
the winter, to promote the decompo- 
sition of the exterior covering of the 
seed. The object is to save room in 
the nursery, because these seeds, and 
others, if sown before the flesh or 
exterior covering is rotted off, will lie 
dormant in the soil for a year ; Avhere- 
as by rotting it off and sowing the 
seeds in the spring of the second year 
after which they are gathered, they 
come up the following May or June. 
The rotheap is kept in what is called 
the rotting-ground, which may be in 
any open situation fully exposed to 
the weather. The heaps may be one 
or two feet in thickness, and of any 
convenient width, the object being to 
produce decay without inducing such 
an active fermentation as would gene- 
rate sufficient heat to destroy the 
vital principle in the seeds. 

Rubbish — such as broken bricks, 
stones, remains of old walls, &c. — is of 
great use for laying at the bottom of a 
flower-bed or border in an open gar- 
den in which bulbs are to be grown. 
A similar bed has also been found 
very useful for growing Dahlias, as 
they are very liable to be injured by 
stagnant moisture. 



RUDBECKIA. 



256 



RU TA. 



Rubia. — Rubiacece. — The Madder. 
The perennial species, which are not 
remarkable for their beauty, are quite 
hardy, and will grow in any soil. 
There are also some half-hardy 
shrubs, which are worth cultivating 
in a greenhouse for their flowers, 
which are generally yellow. A red 
dye is derived from the roots of all 
the species, but principally from those 
of R. ii?ictorium, which is cultivated 
as a field-plant in the south of Europe. 

Rubus. — Rosacea. — The Bramble. 
There are but few ornamental species 
of this very extensive genus. R. 
odoratus, the flowering Raspberry, 
with reddish flowers, and R. Noot- 
kanus, the Nootka Sound Bramble, 
with large white flowers, both kinds 
being sweet-scented, are the most 
ornamental. To these may be added 
the double-flowered common Bramble 
(R.fruticbsus\CLr.pompbnius)a.ndR. 
spectabilis, the Californian Bramble, 
with fragraut dark purple flowers, and 
dark yellow fruit. All the brambles 
are very hardy, but very short-lived ; 
their stems dying down every second 
year, like those of the common Rasp- 
berry (Rubus idceus). They all 
send up numerous suckers, by which 
they are propagated ; and they all 
delight in a moist soil and shaded 
situation ; though they will not thrive 
exactly under the drip of trees. 

Rudbeckia. — Composites. — "Very 
showy perennial, biennial, and annual 
plants, which should be grown in 
light rich soil. They attain a very 
large size, and are therefore only 
suitable to large gardens. They are 
all hardy and of the easiest culture of 
their respective kinds. 



Rue. — See Ruta. 

Ruellia. — Acanthacece. — Herba- 
ceous plants with pretty tube-shaped 
blue flowers. Some of the species 
require a stove, and others a green- 
house ; but they should all be grown 
in light rich soil, and are propagated 
by cuttings. 

Ru'mex. — Polygoneee. — The 
Dock. Most of the species are Bri- 
tish weeds, but some few are grown 
for their flowers. They like a very 
deep and rich soil. 

Ruscus. — SmilacinecB. — The 
Butcher's Broom. Very curious 
evergreen shrubs, most of which bear 
their flowers and fruit on their leaves. 
All the species prefer shady situations 
under the drip of trees, where but 
few other plants will grow ; and they 
are all readily increased by suckers 
from their roots, which they throw 
up in abundance. One of the kinds 
is sometimes called the Alexandrian 
Laurel. 

Russelia. — Scrophularinece. — 
R. juncea is a very elegant stove- 
plant, with slender rush-like branches, 
and scarlet tube-like flowers. It 
should be grown in light rich soil, 
and abundantly supplied with water 
while in a growing state. It is pro- 
pagated by cuttings, struck in heat. 

Ru'ta. — Rutacece. — The Rue. 
R. graveolens is a well - known 
glaucous leaved plant, having a very 
unpleasant smell, and a bitter taste. 
The leaves are nearly blue, and from 
their peculiar colour sometimes pro- 
duce a good effect in a shrubbery. 
The flowers are yellowish. The plant 
will grow in any soil or situation. 



SAGUS. 



257 



SALIX. 



Sa'bal. — Palmes. — The Palmetto, 
or American Palm. These palm- 
trees, which are natives of tropical 
America, require a stove in England, 
and they should be grown in light 
loamy soil. They are increased by 
suckers, which they send up freely. 
They are all of dwarf stature, 
and grow freely in a somewhat moist 
heat. 

Sa'ccharum. — Graminece. — The 
Sugar-cane grows freely in England, 
if kept in a stove in a very rich 
loamy soil. It may be increased by 
suckers ; or if a part of the stem be 
laid in a trench in the tan-pit, or in 
rich loam, where it has bottom-heat, 
it will form plants at every joint. 

Saccola brium. — Orchidacece. — 
East Indian Orchideous Epiphytes, 
which should be grown on wood, but 
which are not very handsome, unless 
very closely examined. For their 
culture, see Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Sacred Bean of India. — See 
Nelumbium. 

Saffron. — Crocus sativa. — See 
Crocus. 

Sage. — See Salvia. 

Sagitta^ria. — Alismacece. — "Wa- 
ter plants, some of which require a 
stove, others a greenhouse, and others 
are quite hardy. They should all be 
grown in loamy soil, with their stems 
in water ; and they are increased by 
seeds or dividing the roots. 

Sago Palm. — See Sagus. 

Sagus. — Palmecs. — A kind of 
palm, from the pith of the stem of 
which Sago is made. The plants 
should be grown in sandy loam, and 
they should be exposed to a strong 
moist heat. The seeds are produced 
in a sort of cone, which is of a bril- 
liant shining brown, and very hand- 
some ; but the plant has never yet 
produced seeds in this country. 



SArNT Agnes' s Flower. — The 
Snow Flake. — See Leucojum. 

Saint Barnaby's Thistle. — Cen- 
taurea solstitialis. 

Saintfoin. — See Onobry^chis. 
, Saint John's Bread. — See Cera- 
to'nia. 

Saint John's Wort. — See Hy- 
pericum. 

Saint Martin's Flower. — Al- 
slrcemeria Flos Martini. — See Al- 

STRGSMERIA. 

Saint Peter's Wort. — The Snow 
Berry. — See Sympho'ria. 

Salica x ria. — See Ly'thrum. 

Salico'rnia. — Chenopodiacece. — 
Glasswort. Succulent British plants, 
which grow naturally by the sea-shore. 
When cultivated, they should be 
grown in silver-sand, and a little salt 
laid occasionally on the surface of the 
soil, so as to be washed in by watering 
or rain. One of the kinds is some- 
times eaten as a culinary vegetable, 
under the name of Marsh Samphire. 

Salisbu'ria. — Amentacece, or 
Taxacece. — This very remarkable 
plant was originally called Ginkgo 
biloba, Ginkgo being its name in 
Japan. Its name has, however, now 
been altered to the more euphonious 
one of Salisburia adiantifblia, the 
leaves resembling in form that of the 
Maiden-hair Fern, the botanic name 
of which is Adiantum. As the 
Salisburia grows to a very large size, 
and as there are specimens in the 
neighbourhood of London above 
sixty feet high, it would not have 
been mentioned here, had it not been 
very ornamental when young. The 
tree has flowered at Kew and at other 
places ; but it has never borne fruit 
in England, though it has in France. 

SALix.—Amentaeece or Salicacece^ 
• — The Willow. A very extensive 
genus of ligneous plants, varying in 



SALPIGLO v SSIS. 



258 



SALVIA. 



size from the tree Willow, of seventy 
or eighty feet high, to the creeping 
half-herbaceous kinds called S. her- 
bacea, S. vaccinifblia, &c. Of 
these S. herbacea creeps so close to 
the ground that it forms on the Swiss 
mountains a kind of turf, not rising 
more than an inch above the surface 
of the ground, and yet forming, -when 
closely examined, a complete minia- 
ture tree. All the kinds of Willow 
grow best in moist soi], or near water ; 
and they all grow in such situations 
very rapidly. The Weeping Willow 
(Salia? Babylonica) has been known 
to grow twenty feet high in ten years, 
and the other species to increase in a 
similar proportion. All the common 
Weeping Willows grown in England 
are female plants ; and it is supposed 
that the kind imported from St. 
Helena, and called Napoleon's Weep- 
ing Willow, is the male plant. Of 
the tall shrubby kinds of Willow, 
Salix caprcea, the great round- 
leaved Sallow, or Grey Withy, is, 
perhaps the handsomest ; and it is 
the flowering branches of this species 
that are called Palms in the neighbour- 
hood of London, and are gathered by 
children on Easter Sunday. The 
Willow will grow in any soil which 
is not too dry ; and it is propagated 
by cuttings, which strike root when 
merely put into the ground, without 
any other trouble being taken with 
them. 

Sallow. — A kind of Willow, with 
roundish shaggy leaves. 

Salpiglo v ssis. — Solanacece or 
Scrophularinece. — Very beautiful 
half-hardy annual plants, natives of 
Chili. The seeds should be sown in 
February on a slight hotbed ; and 
the young plants should be planted 
out in May. The soil should be 
loam mixed with one-third of peat or 
sand ; and the situation should be 
sheltered, and partially shaded ; as, if 
the collar of the plant should be ex- 



posed to the burning heat of the sun, 
so as to become withered, the plant 
will die off suddenly. It is also very 
easily killed by the collar being ex- 
posed to stagnant moisture. When 
grown in pots, it should be frequently 
shifted, always into pots only a little 
larger than the previous ones, so as to 
make the plant bushy. It varies very 
much according to the soil and situa- 
tion in which it is grown ; and if kept 
through the winter in a greenhouse, it 
will become partially woody, like the 
mignionette. There are many differ- 
ent lands, which are made species by 
some botanists, but which are now 
generally allowed to be only varieties. 
Many gardeners sow the seeds in 
autumn, and keep the plants in 
frames all the winter, that they may 
flower early in spring. 

Salsola Chenopodacece. — Salt- 
wort. Annual and biennial succulent 
plants which grow wild on the sea- 
coast in Britain, and which are some- 
times cultivated for their curiously- 
shaped round stems. Soda is made 
from one of the species. 

Salt-tree. — See Halimodendron. 

Salt-wort. — See Salsola. 

Salvia. — Labiatce. — The Sage. 
No one who has only seen the com- 
mon Sage growing in a kitchen-garden 
could imagine the splendidly flower- 
ing plants which belong to the genus 
Salvia. Some of these, as for exam- 
ple S.formbsa, are shrubby and have 
dark scarlet flowers ; and others, such 
as S. patens, have their flowers of 
the richest blue ; others, such as S. 
aurea, have golden yellow flowers ; 
others, such as S. dentata, have 
white flowers ; and in others, such as 
S. involucrala, and S. purpurea, 
the flowers are purple. Besides these, 
some of the kinds have violet flowers, 
and others pink or crimson ; and the 
different kinds of Clsery (S. hormi- 
num) are not cultivated for their 
flowers at all, but merely because the 



SAMYDA. 



259 



SAND. 



points of the shoots are so deeply 
tinted as to have the appearance of 
flowers. The plants differ in their 
habits as much as in their flowers ; 
some are shrubby, some perennial, 
some biennial, and some annual ; and 
some are so tender as to require a 
stove ; while others must be kept in 
a frame or greenhouse, and the greater 
part are quite hardy in the open air. 
All the kinds should be grown in a 
light rich soil ; and they are propa- 
gated by cuttings, division of the root, 
or seeds, which last nearly all the 
species ripen in great abundance. 
There are above a hundred and fifty 
distinct species of Salvia, besides varie- 
ties. 

Sambac — The Indian Jasmine. 
See Jasminum. 

Sambucus. — CaprifoliacecB The 

Elder. The common Elder, Sambu- 
cus nigra, is a low tree, seldom, if 
ever exceeding twenty feet in height, 
and generally having the character of 
a shrub rather than that of a tree. 
The species is not ornamental, but 
there is a variety with cut leaves, S. 
n. laciniata, which is very much so. 
The most ornamental kind of Elder 
is, however, S. racemosa, with loose 
panicles of large dark scarlet berries, 
which look like bunches of bright 
scarlet grapes. All the different 
kinds of Elder thrive most in rich 
soil kept moist, and they are propa- 
gated by layers, cuttings, and seeds, 
which ripen freely. They are all 
quite hardy, and require very little 
attention from the gardener. 

Samphire. — Crithmum mariti- 
murn. — A British rock plant which 
grows on the sea-coast, and is used as 
a pickle. 

Samyda. — Samydece. — Pretty 
stove shrubs with very curiously- 
shaped flowers, natives of the West 
Indies. They should be grown in 
loam and peat, but they are rather 
difficult to cultivate. 



Sand is an important article in the 
propagation and culture of plants ; 
and no good garden, whether small 
or large, ought to be without a stock 
of it. Sand relatively to gardening 
is of two kinds : pure white silver 
sand free from earthy matter and 
ferrugineous particles, which is only 
found in particular situations ; and 
common brown or grey sand which is 
found in pits either with or without 
gravel, and on the shores of rivers or 
the sea. The first kind of sand is 
used for striking heaths, and other 
plants difficult to root by cuttings, 
and also for mixing with peat for 
growing the more tender kinds of 
house plants. This sand is procured 
in abundance in the neighbourhood 
of London and Paris from pits ; but 
throughout the country in general, it 
is chiefly to be found mixed with 
peat, and forming Avhat is called 
heath soil on the surface of heaths or 
commons. In these situations this 
sand, from being exposed alternately 
to the air, the sun, and the action of 
rain, becomes white by bleaching, and 
is indispensable to the gardener ; but 
when it exists in heath soil in a suffi- 
cient proportion for growing plants, 
pure sand is only wanted by the gar- 
dener for striking cuttings. It is, 
however, so useful for this purpose, 
that a quantity of it ought to be pro- 
cured, and carefully kept in a box 
where it will not be mixed with other 
soil, by every person who grows 
plants in pots. 

Common coarse sand is used for 
striking the commoner kinds of plants 
either by cuttings or layers ; it is also 
used for placing under bulbs when 
planting them, and in general for 
mixing with soil of different kinds 
with a view to render it more free and 
pervious to water. This description 
of sand may be procured in almost 
every part of the country ; and it is 
only necessary to guard against pit- 
S 2 



SANTALUM. 



260 



sa'racha. 



sand which is of a rusty brown, and 
consequently strongly impregnated 
•with iron, and sea sand which is ne- 
cessarily impregnated with salt. By 
mixing irony sand with quicklime in 
a state of powder, the iron may be 
neutralized ; but this operation re- 
quires a year or two to effect it, 
besides the expense of the lime, and 
the necessity of separating it after- 
wards by sifting. Saline sand may 
be rendered fit for use by repeated 
washings with fresh water; but this 
expense can only be advisable, when 
no other sand can be procured. In 
various parts of the country there is a 
lead coloured soft sandstone, which 
when broken, and reduced to a state 
of powder, forms an excellent sand, 
both for mixing with soil, and strik- 
ing cuttings. 

Sandal-wood. — See Santalum. 

Sangdina v ria. — Papuveracece 

Puccoon, or Canadian Bloodwort. 
A very pretty little plant with white 
ranunculus-shaped flowers. It should 
be grown in a light sandy soil, and 
it has a very good effect as filling one 
of the beds of a geometric flower- 
garden. The plants are increased by 
seed or division of the root. 

Sanguiso'rba. — Rosacea. — Great 
Burnet. Some of the exotic kinds 
are ornamental ; they are hardy herba- 
ceous plants, and should be grown in 
light rich soil. They are increased 
by dividing the root. 

Santalum. — Santalaccce. — San- 
dal-wood. Stove plants, natives of 
the East Indies, and one species from 
New Holland, The flowers of S. 
album, the true Sandal-wood, are 
small, and are produced in spikes or 
racemes ; but the great value of the 
plant consists in the fragrance of the 
wood, which is so great that the wood 
is burned for incense, &c. and is 
said to be destructive to all noxious 
insects. The plants should be grown 
in light sandy loam, and kept rather 



dry ; but the wood has comparatively 
very little fragrance in this country. 

Saxtolina. — CompositcB. — Laven- 
der cotton. Evergreen dwarf shrubs, 
which will grow in any common gar- 
den soil, and which are propagated by 

I cuttings. 

Sanvita'lia. — Composita. — A 

' beautiful little Mexican annual, well 
adapted from its dwarf stature and 
compact habit of growth for covering 
a bed in a geometric flower garden. 
The flowers are large in proportion to 

' the size of the plant, and they are of 
a rich brown and yellow. It is quite 
hardy, and only requires sowing in 
March or April in the open border. 

Sapikdus. — Sapindacece. — The 
Soap berry. Natives of the East and 

i West Indies, which require a stove in 



loam and peat, and they are propa- 
gated by cuttings. 

Sapo v naria. — SUenaceee or Caryo- 
phyllacea. — Soapwort. Very beauti- 
ful little plants, annual and perennial, 
greatly resembling some of the kinds 
of Lychnis. All the kinds of Sa- 
ponaria look very well on rockwork, 
covering it with a profusion of beauti- 
tiful little pink flowers. The hand- 
somest kinds are S. ocymoides, and 
S. caldbrica for the perennials; and 
S. vaccaria, and S. perfoliata for 
the annuals. They will all grow in any 
common garden soil. 

Sa'racha. — Solanacece. — Annual 
and perennial plants, natives of 
Mexico and Peru. S. viscosa, 
which is the handsomest species, has 
rather large cream-coloured flowers 
beautifully marked in the centre with 
olive dots, and which are succeeded 
by large red berries. It may be 
treated as a half hardy annual ; or 
the roots, which are tuberous, may be 
taken up, and kept dry during winter 
like those of the Marvel of Peru, 
and other similar plants. "When 
treated as an annual, the seeds should 



SAW-FLY. 



261 



SCHI V NUS. 



be sown on a slight hotbed in Feb- 
ruary, and the young plants removed 
into the open border in May. 

Sarca'nthus. — Orchidacece. — 
East Indian Epiphytes, nearly allied 
to Vanda, which should be grown on 
logs of wood. — See Orchideous Epi- 
phytes. 

Sarracenia. — Sarraceneacece.. — i 
The American Pitcher plant, or Side- 
saddle flower. Bog plants with very 
curious flowers, and pitcher-shaped 
leaves. Though natives of Canada, 
where they flower freely, and are pro- 
duced in great abundance, they are 
seldom flowered in England without 
the aid of artificial heat. They are 
grown in pots filled with peat and 
moss, and placed in saucers of water, 
or in the open air, on the banks of 
ponds or rivers. When kept in a 
room, or on a balcony, they should 
be grown in double pots, the inter- 
stice between the two being filled with 
moss. 

Sarsapari'lla. — See Smxlex. 

Sasanqua. — A kind of Camellia, 
the blossom of which strongly resem- 
bles that of the tea-tree. 

Sassafras. — Lceurus Sassafras. 
— A large tree, a native of North 
America. 

Saty'rium. — Orchidacece. — Ter- 
restrial orchidaceous plants from the 
Cape of Good Hope. The leaves are 
very curious from the flat manner in 
which they spread themselves on the 
surface of the pot ; and the flowers 
which are generally yellow, are very 
handsome. They should be grown in 
very sandy loam or peat ; and they 
are generally kept in a greenhouse. 
They are very apt to damp off if over- 
watered. 

Saw-fly. — Beautiful flies with 
clear wings, which are furnished with 
a curious instrument like a saw in the 
lower part of the body, with which 
they wound the bark to deposit their 
eggs. These eggs, like those of some 



other insects, greatly increase in size 
after they are laid. The grub or 
maggot is short and thick, with a 
black shining head, and when attacked 
it can let itself down with a thread. 
These insects are very destructive to 
Rose trees, as they destroy the flower- 
buds. 

Saxifra'ga. — Saxifrages. — "Well- 
known herbaceous plants, many of 
which are natives of Britain, with 
white, yellow, or pink flowers. They 
are all of the easiest culture, and will 
grow in any light garden soil, though 
they prefer a deep sand. S. um- 
brosa is the London Pride, and S. 
grarwlata, the common mountain 
Saxifrage. All the kinds are hand- 
some, and many of them are well 
adapted for rock work. 

Saxifrage. — See Saxifraga. 

Scabio v sa. — DipsacecB. — The Sca- 
bious. Ornamental perennial, and 
annual plants, mostly natives of Eu- 
rope and the East Indies, that will 
grow freely in any common garden 
soil, and may be increased by seeds. 

Scabious. — See Scabio x sa. 

Schi x nus.— A nacardiacece, or Te- 
rebinthacece. — Deciduous shrubs or 
low trees, natives of Brazil and Peru, 
nearly allied to Duvaua. The flowers 
of Schinus Mulli, the commonest 
species, are small and of a yellowish 
green ; but they are succeeded by 
berries of a beautiful rose colour and 
highly polished. The leaves are im- 
pari-pinuate and very handsome, and 
they have the same peculiarity as 
those of the Duvaua. (See Duvaua) 
S. Mulli was first considered a stove 
plant ; it was afterwards transferred 
to the greenhouse, and it is now found 
to succeed in the open air. It was 
introduced in 1597, but it was very 
scarce till about 1830, when it was 
first tried in the open ground. It will 
grow in any common garden soil ; 
and it only requires a slight protection 
during hard frosts. 



SCHIZANTHUS. 



262 



SCILLA. 



Schiz.v'ndra. — Menispermacece. 
— A climbing or trailing half-hardy 
shrub, with scarlet flowers, nearly 
allied to Cocculus indicus. For the 
culture see Cocculus. 

ScHizANTHus.--*S , o/anace« or Scro- 
phularinece. — A genus of very beau- 
tiful half-hardy annual flowers, which 
may be either sown in autumn or 
spring. If wanted to flower in spring, 
the seed should be sown in August or 
September as soon as it is ripe, in 
light rich mould ; and the young 
plants should be kept in well-drained 
pots in a frame or greenhouse during 
winter. In February they should be 
shifted into larger pots, and this shift- 
ing should be repeated every week or 
fortnight till the plants have formed 
their flower-buds. Care must be 
taken in shifting the plants not to 
injure the roots, as they are very ten- 
der and succulent. The plants are 
also liable to die suddenly if th« col- 
lar is exposed to much sun-heat, or 
much moisture. The soil should be 
composed of equal parts of vegetable 
mould and sandy loam, or of loam, 
peat, and rotten manure from an old 
hotbed. When the seeds are sown in 
spring it should be on a hotbed, and 
the young plants should be removed 
into the open air in May, when they 
will flower in autumn. The plants 
are much larger in the open ground, 
and the flowers are finer, if the soil 
be sufficiently rich and light ; but 
care should be taken to plant them in 
a sheltered situation, or to tie them 
to stakes, as the stems are very brit- 
tle and very liable to be broken off 
by high winds. The principal kinds 
of Schizanthus are S. pinnaius, with 
its varieties, all of which have pur- 
plish flowers ; S. retusus, with scar- 
let and yellow flowers ; and S. Pries- 
tii, with white and yellow flowers. 
Of these, S. pinnatus and its allied 
species or variety, S. porrigens, are 
the hardiest. 



Schizope'talon. — CrucifercB. — 
An annual flower, with curiously cut 
petals, and a strong tap root. It is 
rather difficult to grow, as it does not 
bear transplanting well, unless when 
quite young, and it requires a deep 
free soil for its descending root. It 
should be sown in spring, and if pos- 
sible, where it is to remain. 

Schotia. — Leguminoscs. — Cape 
shrubs with very showyflowers, which 
may be kept in a greenhouse during 
the greater part of the year ; but 
whicb should be removed to a stove 
or hotbed frame during winter. They 
should not, however, be plunged, as 
bottom-heat does not appear to suit 
them. They should be grown in 
peat mixed with a little loam, or in 
very sandy loam, the pots being very 
well drained ; and they are propa- 
gated by cuttings struck without bot- 
tom-heat. Many gardeners keep them 
in a greenhouse all the year, covering 
them with a hand-glass and a mat in 
very severe weather. 

Schubertia. — Coniferce. — See 
Deciduous Cypress. 

Scilla. --Asphodeleee.—The Squill 
or Wild Hyacinth. Bulbous-rooted 
plants, mostly natives of Europe, 
which send up their beautiful bell- 
shaped flowers before their leaves. 
Their flowers resemble those of the 
Hyacinth, but they are much smaller. 
S. siberica is perhaps, the most bril- 
liant blue flower grown in British gar- 
dens ; and there are other kinds witli 
white or pale pink flowers, well de- 
serving of cultivation. S. nonscripta, 
the Wild Hyacinth, is sometimes 
called the Blue Bell, and the Hare 
Bell ; but these names are also ap- 
plied, and apparently with more pro- 
priety, to Campanula rotundifolia. 
See Campanula. All the kinds of 
Scilla are quite hardy, but they thrive 
best in a sandy soil and a somewhat 
shady situation. They are increased 
by offsets, and the bulbs may be 



SCROPHULARIA. 



263 



SEATS. 



taken up in autumn if it is thought 
necessary to remove these; but other- 
wise they may remain in the ground 
several years without sustaining any 
injury. 

ScitaminejE. — Hot-house plants 
with reed -like stems, long broad 
leaves and showy flowers, which are 
usually fragrant. 

Scorpion grass. — See Myosotis. 

ScoRproN Senna. — Coronilla 
emenes. — See Coronilla. 

Scorpi'urus. — Leguminosce. — 
Caterpillars. Annuals with yellow 
pea-flowers, the seed-vessels of which 
resemble caterpillars. The species are 
all natives of the south of Europe, 
and they are all quite hardy in Bri- 
tish gardens. 

Scorzone'ra. — Composite. — 
Viper's Grass. Handsome peren- 
nials, with purple, pink, or yellow 
flowers, quite hardy in British gar- 
dens and growing in any common 
garden soil. 

Scotch Laburnum. — Cytisus al- 
pinus. — See Cytisus. 

Scottia. — Leguminosce. — An 
Australian shrub with reddish pea 
flowers, quite hardy in British gar- 
dens, if grown in sandy peat. 

Screens differ from sieves in hav- 
ing the wires in parallel lines, and 
not reticulated ; and in being too 
large to be shaken by the hands. A 
screen consists of a number of paral- 
lel wires fixed in a wooden frame, 
and supported at one end by two 
wooden posts, while the other rests 
against the ground ; and the earth to 
be sifted is thrown by spadefuls 
against the wires, so that while the 
mould passes through them, the 
atones and rubbish fall on the side 
next the gardener. The earth must 
be well broken with the spade before 
it is thrown upon the screen, and the 
operation can only be performed when 
the weather is dry. 

Scrophularia. — Scrophularinece. 



— Figwort. Perennial plants with 
brownish flowers, mostly natives of 
Europe, and growing in any common 
garden soil. 

Scutellaria. — Labiates — Skull- 
cap. Handsome perennial plants, ge- 
nerally with blue flowers, but the 
flowers of some of which are some- 
times pink, yellow, white, or purple ; 
all being shaped like those of the 
snap-dragon. Some of the species are 
natives of Britain and other parts of 
Europe, and others of North Ame- 
rica and Australia. They all grow 
best in peat or in very sandy loam ; 
and they are all quite hardy in Bri- 
tish gardens. 

Sea Buckthorn. — Hippophae 
rhamndides. — See Hippophae. 

Sea Heath. — See Frankenia. 

Sea Holly. — Eryngium Aqui- 
fdlium. — An umbelliferous peren- 
nial with blue flowers, a native of 
Spain, which should be grown in very 
sandy loam. 

Sea Lavender. — See Statice v . 

Sea Ragwort. — Cineraria mari- 
tima. — A half-hardy dwarf shrub 
with yellow flowers, a native of the 
south of Europe, which is generally 
grown in a greenhouse, in a mixture 
of loam and peat. 

Sea-side Balsam. — Croton Eleu- 
teria. — A native of Jamaica. — See 
Croton. 

Seats for gardens are either open 
or covered ; the latter being in the 
form of root-houses, huts, pavilions, 
temples, grottos, &c, and the former 
being either fixed, temporary, or port- 
able. Fixed seats are commonly of 
stone, either plain stone benches with- 
out backs, or stone supports to wooden 
benches. Sometimes also, wooden 
seats are fixed, as when they are 
placed round a tree, or when boards 
are nailed to posts, or when seats are 
formed in imitation of mushrooms, as 
in the grounds at Redleaf. Fixed 
seats are also sometimes formed of 



SEATS. 



264 



se'dum. 



turf. Portable seats are formed of 
wood, sometimes contrived to have the 
back of the seat folded down when 
the seat is not in use ; so as to ex- 
clude the weather and avoid the dirt 
of birds which are apt to perch on 
them. Another kind of portable seat, 
which is frequently formed in iron, 
in the form of Fig. 28, is shown in 
readily wheeled from one part of the 
grounds to another ; and the back of 

Fig. 28. 




MOVEABLE GARDEN SEAT. 



which also folds down to protect the 
seat from the weather. There is a 
kind of camp stool which serves as a 
portable seat, imported from Norway, 
and sold at the low price of 2s. 6c?. 
or 3s. ; and there are also straw seats 
like half beehives, which are, how- 
ever, only used in garden-huts or in 
any situations under cover, because 
in the open air they would be liable 
to be soaked with rain. There are a 
great variety of rustic seats formed of 
roots and crooked branches of trees, 
used both for the open garden and 
under cover, and there are also seats 
of cast and wrought iron of great va- 
riety of form. There should always 
be some kind of analogy between the 
seat and the scene of which it forms 
a part ; and for this reason rustic 
seats should be confined to rustic 
scenery ; and the seats for a lawn or 
highly-kept pleasure-ground, ought to 
be of comparatively simple and archi- 
tectural forms, and either of wood or 
stone, those of wood being frequently 
ainted of a stone-colour and sprinkled 
ver with silver sand before the paint 
dry, to give them the appearance of 



stone. Iron seats, generally speak- 
ing, are not sufficiently massive 
for effect ; and the metal conveys 
the idea of cold in winter and heat in 
summer. 

When seats are placed along a walk, 
a gravelled recess ought to be formed 
to receive them ; and there ought, 
generally, to be a foot-board to keep 
the feet from the moist ground, whe- 
ther the seat is on gravel or on a 
lawn. In a garden where there are 
several seats, some ought to be in 
positions exposed to the sun, and 
others placed in the shade, and none 
ought to be put down in a situation 
where the back of the seat is seen by 
a person approaching it before the 
front. Indeed the backs of all fixed 
seats ought to be concealed by shrubs, 
or by some other means, unless they 
are circular seats placed round a tree. 
Seats ought not to be put down 
j where there will be any temptation 
to the persons sitting on them to 
strain their eyes to the right or left, 
nor where the boundary of the garden 
forms a conspicuous object in the 
view. In general, all seats should of 
a stone colour, as harmonizing best 
with vegetation. Nothing can be 
more unartistical than seats painted 
of a pea-green, and placed among the 
green of living plants. 

Securida^ce. — Polygalece. — Stove 
climbers from the West Indies, with 
white flowers, which should be grown 
in a mixture of peat and loam. 

Securi'gera. — Leguminoses.—The 
Hatchet Vetch. A hardy annual, 
with yellow pea-flowers. It requires 
no other care than sowing in March 
or April, but as it is very coarse- 
growing, and requires a great deal of 
room, it is not suitable for a small 
garden. This plant was called Coro- 
rdlla Securidaca by Linnaeus. 

SeWm. — CrassalacecB. — The 
Stone Crop. Succulent plants with 
white, red, or yellow flowers. The 



SEEDS. 



265 



SEEDS. 



genus takes its botanic name of Se- 
dum from the Latin verb Sedere to 
sit, because in its wild state it appears 
to be sitting or crouching on the old 
walls or rocks which form its habi- 
tat ; and its English name of Stone 
Crop alludes to the same habit of 
growth, as it appears to be growing 
out of stones which afford no other 
crop. All the species, though quite 
hardy, should be grown in well- 
drained pots filled with turfy loam, 
mixed with lime-rubbish ; and they j 
are all admirably adapted for rock- 
work. They are increased by cut- 
tings, or dividing the roots. 

Seeds. — The gathering and pre- 
servation of seeds is an occupation 
peculiarly agreeable to persons fond 
of gardening; partly, no doubt, be- 
cause it contains so much of future 
promise, and on the same principle 
that sowing is universally considered 
a more exciting operation than reap- 
ing. The greater number of seeds of 
ornamental herbaceous plants are con- 
tained in long narrow pods called 
siliques, or sillicles, such as those of 
the cruciferous plants ; or in legumi- 
nous pods, such as those of the Sweet 
Pea; or of capsules, such as those of 
Campanula ; but a number of plants 
produce their seeds naked in tubes, 
such as the Scrophularinae ; on recep- 
ticles such as the Composita ; and | 
some in fruits more or less fleshy, 
6uch as the Fuchsia. All seeds may 
be known to be ripe, or nearly so, by 
the firmness of their texture, and by 
their changing from a white or green- 
ish colour, to a colour more or less 
brown. There are, indeed, some 
seeds which are whitish when ripe, 
such as the "White Lupine, and of 
several of the sweet peas ; and other 
seeds that are quite black, such 
as those of some Ranunculuses, 
but in general a brown colour is a 
characteristic of ripeness. Seeds 
should be gathered on a dry day after 



the sun has had sufficient time to 
exhale all the moisture which dews 
or rains may have left on the seed- 
vessels. In general, the pods, or 
capsules, should be cut off with a 
small portion of the stalks attached, 
and the whole should be spread out, 
each kind by itself, on papers in an 
airy room or shed, from which rain, 
and the direct influence of the sun, 
are both excluded. When the seed- 
vessels are thoroughly dried, they may 
j be put up in papers without separating 
the seeds from them ; and kept in a 
dry place, rather airy than close, till 
wanted for sowing. Seeds preserved 
in the seed-vessel no doubt make 
comparatively clumsy packages, to 
seeds from which every description of 
husk or covering has been separated ; 
but in this clumsy state they are found 
to keep better than when cleaned. Ne- 
vertheless, when they are to be sown 
the following year, or sent anywhere 
in a letter, it is better to take them 
out of the covering, and render them 
as clean as possible, by passing them 
through sieves, with holes sufficiently 
large to admit the escape of dust, but 
not of the seeds. Such sieves on a 
small scale every lady may make for 
herself by turning up the edges of a 
piece of thin pasteboard cut in a cir- 
cular form, and piercing the bottom 
I with holes with a large pin or darning- 
needle. When it is determined to 
separate the seeds from the seed-ves- 
sels, instead of putting up the whole 
together, the vessels after gathering 
may be dried in the sun ; when many 
of the seeds will come out by the ex- 
pansion of the seed-vessels in the 
heat, and the remainder can easily be 
rubbed out. This is the usual prac- 
tice of nurserymen. For keeping 
seeds a lady ought to have a small 
cabinet, which she might form herself 
of pasteboard, with as many drawers 
as there are letters in the alphabet ; 
and as her seeds are put up in papers, 



SEMPERVf VOL 



266 



SENECIO. 



she can tie the packets of each genus 
by themselves, and put them in the 
appropriate drawer. Where so much 
trouble cannot be taken, a large 
brown paper bag, or a canvas bag, for 
each letter of the alphabet, may be 
substituted. 

The period during which seeds will 
retain their vegetative powers differs 
in different families, genera, and even 
species. Seeds of the Ranunculaceae 
and the Crucifera?, will, in general, 
retain their vitality for several years, 
in whatever manner they may be . 
kept ; provided the situation be not 
such as will cause them to germinate. 
On the other hand, seeds of the Cap- 
sicum will keep for several years if 
retained in the berry, but will seldom 
grow the second year when removed 
from it. As a safe general guide, it 
may be adopted as a rule, that all 
seeds will keep three years, and grow, 
provided they are retained in the 
unopened seed-vessel ; that most 
seeds, if maturely ripened, and kept 
in a dry place in close paper packets, 
will grow the second year ; and that 
all seeds whatever, whether kept in 
the seed-vessel or exposed in open 
drawers like those of the seedsmen, 
will grow the first year after being 
gathered. Mignionette seed will keep 
seven years ; but that of stocks and 
wall-flowers will not remain good more 
than two years, unless kept in the 
pod. Sweet peas and lupines will, 
with difficulty, keep two years, while 
the seeds of Prince's feather and of 
poppies will keep several years. 
Larkspur seed will seldom grow after 
the second or third year. Notwith- 
standing the length of time which 
some seeds will keep, it is generally 
advisable to sow them as soon after 
they are ripe as practicable, as fresh 
seeds always vegetate much sooner 
than old ones. 

Selfheal. — See Prune'lla. 

SemperviVum. — Crassulacece. — 



House Leek. Succulent plants, the 
most beautiful of which are natives of 
the Canary Islands, and require to be 
kept in the greenhouse. They should 
be grown in sandy loam, mixed with 
lime rubbish, and the pots should be 
well drained. They require very 
little water, except when about to 
flower; and they are propagated by 
cuttings, which must be laid to dry 
for some days before they are planted. 
When potted they should neither 
have any water, nor be covered with 
a glass ; but they may be plunged 
into a bed of tan or dead leaves. The 
hardy kinds are very suitable for 
rock-work, and are increased by 
suckers from the roots. 

Sene^cio. — Compositce. — A very 
extensive genus, including many 
plants which are quite worthless, such 
as the common British weed called 
Groundsel (S. vulgaris) ; many 
showy garden flowers, such as the 
Jacobaea, or purple ragwort (S. ele- 
gans) ; and even some hothouse and 
greenhouse shrubs. Of these one of 
the handsomest garden-flowers is the 
double purple Jacobese, which is a 
native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
It differs from the common British 
ragwort (S. Jacobece), the flowers 
of which are yellow, not only in 
its flowers but in its habit of 
growth. The seeds of the purple 
Jacobea? should be sown on a slight 
hotbed, and the young plants re- 
moved to the open borders in May ; 
if kept during the winter in a green- 
house they will become shrubby like 
the Mignionette. All the species of 
Senecio like a rather rich loamy soil, 
kept open by a mixture of sand or 
peat, and most of them are hardy. 
There are, however, a few Cape 
shrubs belonging to the genus, which 
require a greenhouse. According to 
the new arrangement of the Com- 
posite by Professor De Candolle, 
nearly the whole of the genus Cine- 



SHERARDIA. 



267 



SHRUBBERY. 



ravia has been incorporated in that of 
Senecio. See Cineraria. 

Sensitive Plant. — See Mimosa. 

Shaddock. — See Citrus. 

Shading is necessary to plants after 
transplanting, to prevent the evapora- 
tion from the leaves, which takes 
place when the plants are exposed to 
the full heat of the sun, being greater 
than the roots can supply moisture to 
support. Besides this, partial shade 
is necessary to many plants which 
cannot bear the direct rays of the sun; 
such, for example, as the Californian 
annuals — plants which in their native 
state grow in thick woods, fens, &c. 
In these cases, however, it is not 
necessary that the shade should be so 
great as for newly-transplanted plants. 
There is a great deal of difference in 
plants, with regard to their flowers 
bearing the direct rays of the sun. 
Some require solar influence to make 
them expand, such as all the kinds of 
Mesembryanthemum ; while others, 
such as the Evening Primrose, only 
unfold their flowers when the sun 
withdraws its rays. Most of the orchi- 
deous epiphytes, which grow in dense 
woods, succeed best in hot-houses 
glased with green glass, which affords 
them the requisite degree of shade. 

Sharp Cedar. — Acacia Oocyce- 
drus. — See Acacia. 

Sheep Laurel. — See Kalmia. 

Sheep's Scabious. — See Jasione. 

Shepherdia. — Elceagnece. — Beau- 
tiful shrubs, or low trees, with silvery 
leaves, which were formerly considered 
to belong to the genus Hippophea. 
The silvery appearance of the leaves 
is produced by their outer surface 
being of a bluish green, and their 
lower surface lined with a soft silky 
down of snowy whiteness. The plants 
are natives of North America, and 
may be grown in peat, or in very 
sandy loam. 

Sherardia. — Rubiacece. — Field 
Madder. Very pretty British weeds, 



which may be introduced with good 
effect on rockwork. 

Shifting is the operation of trans- 
ferring plants grown in small pots to 
other pots a little larger : and it is 
of very great advantage when it is 
wished to keep plants short and 
bushy. In shifting, the ball of earth 
round the roots is not broken, but 
placed in the centre of the new pot, 
and the earth filled in round it. — See 
Potting. 

Shingle Oak. — Quercus imbri~ 
cata. 

Shrubby Trefoil. — Ptelea triefo- 
liata. — See Pte v lea. 

Shrubby Cinquefoil. — PotentUla 
fruticosa. — See Pote'ntilla. 

Shrubbery. — A walk bordered by 
shrubs and trees with some flowers in 
front, is called a shrubbery. In small 
villas it generally leads from the 
house to the kitchen garden; and 
sometimes goes round the latter, or 
is conducted round an open lawn. 
The object in forming a shrubbery is 
to produce as great an extent of in- 
teresting walk as the nature, extent, 
and other circumstances of the place 
will admit. There is then no posi- 
tive rule for either the length of 
shrubbery walk or its direction ; and 
unless a given situation were to be 
treated of, only some general direc- 
tions can be given, or principles laid 
down respecting the planting of the 
shrubs and trees. 

If we examine most of the shrub- 
beries in country residences, we shall 
find that there is a general sameness 
in the appearance of the trees and 
shrubs with which they are planted, 
from one end of the shrubbery to the 
other. This sameness results from 
the mode commonly employed of 
mixing those kinds of trees and 
shrubs that can be most readily pro- 
cured indiscriminately together. Some 
evergreens are distributed throughout 
the whole, such as a few Hollies, and 



SHRUBBERY. 



268 



SHRUBBERY. 



a few Pines and Firs ; laurels, and 
with a few roses, and perhaps a few 
honeysuckles. The rest is made up 
of the common mixture planted hy 
contractors or jobbing gardeners on 
such occasions. The object is merely 
to produce a plantation which shall I 
have some flowering shrubs in it, and 
some herbaceous plants and roses. 
If we examine the progress of such a 
plantation from the time it has been 
planted till it has attained the age of 
twenty or thirty years, we shall find 
that at the end of four or five years 
the herbaceous plants will become 
choked up, and are either killed or 
rendered unsightly. In six years the 
roses will have ceased to flower freely 
for want of light and air, and of 
manuring the soil ; and hence they 
will have become the very reverse of 
ornamental. In ten years the finer 
shrubs will have been choked up by 
the coarser kinds, and in twenty 
years almost all the shrubs will have 
vanished, having been destroyed by 
the trees. There is no way of pre- 
venting this result to a shrubbery 
planted in the usual manner, except 
by constant thinning; beginning in 
the third year, and removing all the 
herbaceous plants that have not suffi- 
cient room and air and light to grow 
and flower freely. The bulbs may 
be left as long as they will grow ; 
because as they have but little foliage, 
and that foliage is produced early and 
soon dies off, they are under no cir- 
cumstances so disagreeable in their 
appearance as dicotyledonous plants. 
The roses should be removed when- 
ever they cease to flower vigorously ; 
and all the other shrubs should be 
thinned out when their branches 
begin to interfere with one another. 
Where the shrubbery is twenty or 
thirty feet wide, every shrub should 
be kept separate from every other 
shrub, so as to be clothed with 
branches from the ground upwards ; 



or the shrubs should be encouraged 
to grow in groups of different sizes, 
each group being kept more or less 
distinct from every other group. It 
may be thought that this mode of 
keeping the single plants and the 
groups distinct, will prevent the 
shrubbery from serving as a screen ; 
but this is a mistake ; because though 
the plants, by being placed alternately, 
will admit the eye of the spectator on 
the walk to see in among them, which 
in passing along a walk adds greatly 
to the variety of its effect, yet this 
very circumstance, will prevent the 
' eye from passing the boundary. Any 
! person may prove this by drawing 
! circles representing the shrubs or 
groups on paper to a scale ; and sup- 
posing the strip of plantation to be 
thirty feet in width ; and the circles 
some of them to be five feet in 
diameter, and some of them ten feet. 
The style of planting and thinning so 
as to keep each plant distinct, and 
always about to touch but never 
actually touching those around it, is 
what Mr. Loudon calls the garden- 
esque treatment of shrubberies and 
plantations ; and the style of group- 
ing is called the picturesque mode of 
planting and management. These 
remarks may be considered as direc- 
tions for making the most of a shrub- 
bery already planted in the common 
manner ; and in so far as thinning is 
concerned, they will equally apply to 
the mode of planting which is now 
about to be described. 

Planting shrubberies so as to pro- 
duce variety in the aspect of the 
plantation is to be effected by one 
mode only, and that is to cause oue 
kind of tree or shrub always to pre- 
vail in one place. In extensive 
shrubberies this will require several 
plants of the same species or variety 
to be placed together ; but this occa- 
sions no additional expense ; because 
in a common shrubbery at least, the 



SHRUBBERY. 



269 



SHRUBBERY. 



same number of plants of one species 
would be planted, the only difference 
being that they would : be placed in 
different parts of the plantation. In 
a small shrubbery perhaps not more 
than one or two plants of a species or 
variety might be required; more 
especially if the object was to include 
as extensive a collection in the shrub- 
bery, as could conveniently be pro- 
cured. There are almost a thousand 
trees and shrubs, exclusive of roses, 
in British nurseries, which may be 
purchased at moderate prices ; and all 
these may be used in a shrubbery 
which contains no more ground than 
a single acre. Supposing that only 
one plant of a kind is planted, and 
supposing that each genus or natural 
order is kept by itself, every part of 
the surface of the plantation will be 
different from that which precedes or 
follows it ; and the greatest variety 
which the case admits of will be pro- 
duced. So many plants planted on 
one acre, will, however, soon cover 
the soil ; and therefore in three years 
after planting, it will be necessary to 
begin to thin them. The thinning in 
this case ought to be directed to the 
removal of the commoner and coarser 
kinds. The most complete shrub- 
bery that can be imagined is one 
which should contain all the larger 
trees distributed along it as a back- 
ground, with all the smaller trees in 
front ; next to these should be the 
larger shrubs, then the smaller shrubs, 
next the roses, and finally in the front, 
apart from the roses, should be the 
herbaceous plants; thus forming a 
splendid bank of vegetation on level 
ground. To prevent such an ar- 
rangement from becoming monoto- 
nous, it is essentially necessary that 
it should be combined with the 
natural system of relationship be- 
tween the kinds ; and this ought to 
be carried out in the roses, and in the 
herbaceous plants, no less than in the 



shrubs and trees. To solve this pro- 
blem so as to carry the idea into exe- 
cution, is one of the nicest points for 
an amateur landscape gardener to 
attempt. 

All shrubberies whatever, how- 
ever scientifically they may be planted 
and thinned out afterwards, will ulti- 
mately become old, and entirely lose 
the character which they had during 
the first eight or ten years after plant- 
ing. Hence, in small places, which 
j have been planted a certain number 
of years, it is impossible to have a 
' shrubbery such as is here described, 
j without removing the large trees and 
; shrubs already existing ; and this 
: must necessarily depend on the taste 
\ of the proprietor, and whether a col- 
: lection of young trees and shrubs, 
which have a bare and new look, 
j but which will be continually in- 
J creasing in beauty and magnitude, 
j be preferred to a few full-grown 
plants which are already in a state of 
perfection, and which have an air of 
grandeur and repose. 

When a shrubbery is planted, and 
for some years afterwards, the ground 
should be kept clear of weeds by 
hoeing or slight digging; and the 
shrubbery should be separated from 
the walk by a verge of turf or of box. 
When the opposite side of the walk 
is turf, such as a lawn, then the side 
next the shrubs must have a verge of 
turf also ; but where a walk passes 
through the middle of a shrubbery, 
box edgings may be used on both 
sides. In general, however, a grass 
verge is greatly to be preferred, as 
being more appropriate to a scene con- 
nected with the lawn ; and as not 
calling up ideas of a kitchen garden, 
or of a small flower-garden, where the 
beds are usually edged with box. What- 
ever may be the width of the gravel 
walk, the grass verge should not be 
narrower than two feet, because less 
than that width cannot always be 



SHRUBBERY . 



27i 







SIBERIAN PEA TREE. 



kept in good order; such as neatly 
mown, level, and with the margins 
clipped but not pared. Besides a 
narrow verge has an appearance of 
meanness, and gives the idea of want 
of space. As the shrubs spread over 
the ground, there will soon be scarcely 
any part of the interior of the shrub- 
bery, that will not be covered by 
their lower branches ; and the shrubs 
along the margin will extend their 
branches towards the verge and even 
spread over it. When this is the 
case, which generally happens in four 
or five years, all digging and hoeing 
becomes unnecessary ; and the turf 
verge ought to be encouraged to ex- 
tend in width under the branches of 
the plants, the roses and herbaceous 
plants, if any have been planted, being 
removed. This is a point in the 
management of shrubberies which is 
almost everywhere defective ; for the 
gardener generally continues cutting 
the inner edge of the verge and 
digging the ground among the herba- 
ceous plants and the roses, till he has 
reduced the verge to about six or 
eight inches in width next the walk ; 
this being the only part on which he 
will suffer any grass to grow ; while 
the roses and herbaceous plants which 
have long ceased to be either healthy 
or ornamental are left to display their 
stunted and naked branches, with the 
dug earth for a back ground. The 
constant digging and stirring of the 
ground breaks off the branches of the 
shrubs, and thus an unsightly gap is 
created, which entirely destroys all 
the pleasing ideas excited by glades of 
smooth turf, appearing here and there 
to penetrate among the trees. To 
produce this latter effect, as the 
branches of any of the shrubs begin 
to spread over the verge, all digging 
and paring ought to be left off, and 
the grass encouraged to extend itself 
into the bays and recesses of the 
plantation. In like manner, in a 



shrubbery with the walks edged with 
box, the box ought to be removed 
whenever the branches begin to spread 
over it, leaving no edging to the 
walk at all except what is formed by 
the retiring and advancing of the 
branches of the shrubs. This will 
form a walk with what is called 
picturesque edgings ; but if a de- 
finite or a gardenesque edging is re- 
quired, it may be formed of brick or 
stone. On no account whatever 
ought any kind of vegetable edging 
to be kept up which does not grow 
freely; for it is a maxim in garden- 
ing which ought never to be forgotten, 
that what cannot be grown well, 
ought not to be grown at all. 

Siberian crab. — Pyrus baccata, 
and P. prunifolia. These trees, 
though frequently grown in kitchen 
gardens and orchards for their fruit, 
deserve admission into ornamental 
plantations for the beauty of their 
crabs when ripe. 

Siberian Pea Tree. — Caragana 
AUagana, andC. arbor escens. — The 
genus Caragana consists of a great 
number of low trees and shrubs, with 
abruptly pinnate leaves, and pea- 
flowers, which are generally yellow. 
They are mostly natives of Siberia, 
and flower early in spring ; their 
light elegant foliage often appearing 
as early as March. All the species 
are very ornamental ; but the tree 
kinds are more so than the others. 
C. jubala, which differs from the 
rest in having white flowers tinged 
with red, is a low shrub, not above 
eighteen inches high, presenting a 
curious shaggy appearance from the 
footstalks of the leaves remaining on, 
and becoming hard and thorny, after 
the leaflets have dropped off. C. 
Chamlaga, the Chinese Caragana, 
which is naturally a low shrub, forms 
a very graceful pendulous tree, when 
grafted on a stock of C. arborescens 
ten or twelve feet high. All the 



SIFTING. 



27 



I 



SINGLE TREES. 



Caraganas "were formerly considered 
to belong to the genus Robinia. They 
are all quite hardy, and will grow in 
any common garden soil ; most of the 
species prefer a poor gravel, but C. 
arborescens thrives best in the neigh- 
bourhood of water. The species are 
propagated by layers or cuttings, or by 
seeds, which they ripen in abundance. 

Sida. — Malvacece. — Stove, green- 
house, and hardy plants, natives of 
the East and West Indies, and North 
America, with showy white, pink, or 
yellow flowers, which they produce 
in great abundance. They are grown 
in loam and peat, and generally ripen 
seeds ; by which, and by cuttings, 
they are readily increased. 

Sideroxylon. — Sapotece. — Iron- 
wood. Half-hardy and hardy shrubs, 
and low trees, natives of America, 
the East Indies, and the Cape of 
Good Hope. Some of the species 
have been removed to Bumelia, and 
one species, a native of Morocco, 
which is hardy in British gardens, is 
now called Argania. All the kinds 
should be grown in loam and peat ; 
and they have all small white, or 
whitish-green flowers. 

Side-saddle Flower. — See Sarra- 
cenia. 

Sieves are necessary in gardening 
to separate the stones and coarser 
particles from the mould to be used 
for potting, and also for cleaning seeds. 
Garden sieves for mould should he 
made with deep wooden rims, but for 
seeds the wooden rim may be more 
shallow : in both cases the wires, or 
toile metallique, through which the 
mould is to pass, should be firmly 
attached to the rim, the holes or 
interstices not being more than the 
fourth of an inch in diameter. 

Sifting is the operation of passing 
any kind of soil through a sieve or 
screen to deprive it of its coarser 
particles. Decayed leaves and rotten 
dung are also sifted : as it is only the 



fine mould that falls from them that 
is useful in vegetation. Sifting, how- 
ever, should be used with caution ; 
as some plants thrive better when the 
particles of soil are not too fine. 
Turfy loam, for example, should 
generally be chopped small with a 
spade or trowel, and not sifted ; and 
peat should not be deprived of the 
vegetable fibre in which it abounds, 
Sifted earth when of a loamy nature, 
is very apt to cake together and to be- 
come impenetrable to the finer roots 
of plants. 

Sile v ne\ — Silenacece or Caryo- 
phyllaoea.— The Catchfly. Well 
known annual and perennial plants, 
many of which are natives of Britain, 
with flowers something like those of 
the pink. They are nearly all quite 
hard)-, and only require the common 
treatment of their respective kinds, 
Lobel's Catchfly (S. Armeria) is a 
common garden annual that requires 
sowing in the open ground in March 
or April. 

Silk tree. — Acacia julilrissina. 
— See Acacta. 

Si'lphium. — Composites. — Peren- 
nial plants, natives of NorthAmerica, 
with yellow flowers, which are quite 
hardy in British gardens, and will 
grow in any garden soil. , i 

Simaru v ba. — Simarubiacece. — The 
false Quassia. Stove plants with 
showy flowers, natives of the West 
'Indies, neaily allied to the Quassia. 

Single trees and single shrubs 
are the grand sources of variety in a 
lawn or park, where the surface is 
flat and without any other resources ; 
and they are also, when judiciously 
disposed, valuable additions to a sur- 
face naturally varied by undulations. 
The great art in putting down single 
trees is, to dispose them so as to form 
groups, when seen fi^om a distance, 
and yet so as to produce variety in 
every change of position in the spec- 
tator when near. The kinds of trees 



SINGLE TREES. 



272 



SINGLE TREES. 



and shrubs may be varied at pleasure, 
provided some attention be paid to 
the general forms, and to the preva- 
lence of one general form or character 
of tree or shrub in one place. For 
example, if conical trees be distri- 
buted equally over the grounds, along 
with round-headed trees, they will 
produce great sameness ; but if coni- 
cal trees prevail in one place, round- 
headed trees in another, and flat- 
spreading trees in a third, so many 
distinct characters will be produced. 
The same may be said as to shrubs. 
The sure mode of proceeding on right 
principles is to take the different 
genera, and allow only the species 
and varieties of one genus to prevail 
in one place. Single trees should 
always be planted in prepared soil 
raised in heaps a foot or more above 
the general surface ; so that after a 
year or two, when the earth has 
settled down, the tree may stand on a 
little hillock. The trees before plant- 
ing should be ten feet or twelve feet 
in height, with trunks three inches or 
four inches in diameter at the surface 
of the ground. The shrubs should 
also be of as large a size as will trans- 
plant with ease and a fair prospect of 
success, and this size will vary ac- 
cording to the kind of shrub. Ever- 
green trees of the Pine and Fir tribe, 
and of the Cypress tribe, the beauty 
of which depends on their spreading 
branches, should either be planted in 
a situation where no fence is requisite, 
or they should be surrounded with 
iron hurdles or some other light 
fence placed five feet or six feet from 
the stem of the tree, and extended to 
a greater distance as the lateral 
branches advance in length ; but 
broad-leafed trees, such as most of the 
Exogens, may be protected by fences 
placed close to the stem. There 
are various modes of doing this : Jig. 
29 shows the mode of protecting by 
tying thorn branches round the stem [ 



as practised in the Regent's Park, 
London, and various other places. 

Fig. 29. 




PROTECTING BY FAGGOTS. 

Fig. 30 shows a mode of protect- 
ing trees from sheep by tying laths 

Fig. 30. 




[ PROTECTING BY LATHS. 

round them with wire. In the 
horizontal section, and also in the 



SINGLE TREES. 



273 



SIPHO v NIA. 



elevation, a, represents the stem of 
the tree, b, the wire, and c, the laths. 

To protect single trees from the 
wind, various modes have been 
adopted ; one of the simplest of which 
consists in driving a stake into the 
ground much deeper than the roots 
of the tree, and tying the trunk to it 
with a hay-band ; care being taken 
not to injure the roots in driving in 
the stake. There is another mode of 
fixing a tree, which serves also to pro- 
tect it ; and this consists in driving 
two pieces of wood into the ground ; 
with their lower extremities spread 
out, and their upper ones tied to the 
tree. Many other methods will be 
found in the Gardener's Magazine, 
vol. xiii. and in Mr. Loudon's Sub- 
urban Gardener. 

In planting single trees, and indeed 
trees of every kind, the greatest pos- 
sible care should be taken to place 
them so high above the surface as 
that after they have sunk down, 
as they will do in a few years, they 
may still appear to stand on a little 
hillock or to grow out of a small 
mound. If we examine thriving trees 
in natural wood, we shall always 
find that the collar, that is the point 
of junction between the stem and the 
root, rises above the general surface, 
so as to form a little hillock. On the 
other hand if we examine trees in 
artificial plantations in which the soil 
has been deeply trenched, we shall 
generally find that though they may 
have been planted at first level with 
the surface, they will, after a certain 
number of years, have sunk consider- 
ably below the surface ; or if care has 
been taken to keep the ground about 
them level, by adding fresh soil as the 
surface sinks they will appear with 
their collars completely buried and 
their trunks rising out of the soil like 
so many posts driven into it by art, in- 
stead of springing from a woody base 
rising above the soil like trees and 



shrubs in a natural forest, or on a 
common. In planting single trees, 
therefore, hillocks should at first be 
raised to a height which will for a 
year or two appear quite unnatural, 
as shown in fig. 3 1 , in which may be 
observed a small hollow at the base 

Fig. 31. 




NEWLY PLANTED TREE. 

of the stem for retaining water ; but 
they will soon sink down to the ap- 
pearance shown in fig. 32. 



Fig. 32. 




FULL GROWN TREE. 

Sinni'ngia. — Gesneriacece. — 
Stove-plants with large bell-shaped 
flowers. They should be grown in 
light rich soil. 

Siphocampylus. — LobeliacecB. — 
A suffruticose plant, with red and 
green tube- shaped flowers. It is 
generally kept in the greenhouse, but 
it is nearly hardy. It should be 
grown in heath-mould, and it is pro- 
pagated by cuttings, which should be 
dried a little before they are planted. 

Sipho^nia. — Euphorbiacece.— The 
American Indian-rubber tree. The 
first elastic gum brought to Europe 
was the produce of the Ficus elas- 
tica ; and as this plant is a native of 
the East Indies, the substance was 
thence called Indian rubbeT. It has 

T 



SNAKE-GOURD. 



274 



SOILS. 



since been found that several trees 
produce it ; and the Caoutchouc used 
for the Macintosh cloaks, &c. is prin- 
cipally produced by the Siphbnia 
Cahuchu, a native of Guiana. The 
species requires a stove in England ; 
and it grows freely in peat, loam, and 
sand. It is propagated by cuttings 
of the young wood in sand, with a 
bell-glass and bottom-heat. 

Sisymbrium. — Cruciferce. — 
Hedge British weeds. 

Sisyri'nchium. — Iridece. — Mus- 
tard. — Beautiful little plants, resem- 
bling bulbous plants in their flowers, 
but with fibrous roots. They are all 
natives of America, and they should 
be grown in sandy peat. 

Skullcap. — See Scutellaria. 
Slipper-wort. — See Calceolaria. 
Slugs. — See Limax. 
Smilax. — Smilacece. — Evergreen 
monocotyledonous, dioecious, climb- 
ing shrubs, with curiously ribbed 
leaves, and numerous tendrils, which 
they twine round every object within 
their reach. The roots are thick and 
fleshy, and from them (and particu- 
larly those of one species) the drug 
called sarsaparilla is made. The 
flowers are small and whitish; and 
those of the female plants are suc- 
ceeded by red or black berries. The 
handsomest species is S. rubens, the 
tendrils of which are of a bright red ; 
and the next is S. excelsa, from the 
large size of its leaves. All the spe- 
cies may be grown in the common 
garden soil ; but they should be 
planted in a shady situation, and kept 
rather moist. S. China and some 
other species are rather tender, and 
require protection from severe frosts. 
Snails. — See Helix. 
Snail-flower. — Phaseblus Ca- 
racalla. — A climbing plant, a native 
of India, with lilac flowers, nearly 
allied to the Scarlet-runner. 

Snake-gourd. — Trichosanthes 
anguina. — A very curious plant, 



with white flowers, every petal of 
which appears surrounded with long 
knotted fringe. The leaves and ten- 
drils resemble those of the common 
cucumber ; but the fruit is curiously 
striped, and is so long and narrow as 
to resemble a snake. Specimens 
have indeed been grown more than 
six feet long, and not thicker than 
the body of a common snake. The 
plant is an annual, a native of China, 
and it should be grown in a frame 
like a common cucumber or melon. 
It is of no use, and only worth culti- 
vating as an object of curiosity. 

Snake-wood. — Ceanbthus colu- 
brina. 

Snap-dragon. — See Antirrhinum. 
Snowball tree. — See Vibur- 
num. 

Snowberry. — See Symphori- 

carpus. 

Snowdrop. — See Galanthus. 

Snowdrop tree. — See Halesia. 

Snowflake. — See Leucojum, 

Soap-berry. — See Sapindus. 

Soap-wort. — See Saponaria. 

Soils — are of two kinds, the surface 
soils, and the subsoils ; the first being 
what are generally understood by the 
word soils, and the second being pro- 
perly designated earths. Soils, ac- 
cording to this definition, consist of 
the crumbling surface of one of the 
primitive earths mixed with decayed 
animal or vegetable matter, and per- 
haps with particles of some other earth 
which may have been washed down 
by rains, or otherwise accidentally 
mingled with it. Thus clay is one of 
the primitive earths ; but loam, which 
is compounded of the crumbling sur- 
face of the clay mixed with decaying 
animal or vegetable substances, is a 
soil. In the like manner, lime is an 
earth, but chalk is a soil. When 
several kinds of soil are mixed to- 
gether and intermingled with ma- 
nures, the mixture is called a compost. 
All soils which contain a consider- 



SOLLYA. 



275 



SOPHO^RA. 



able portion of sand or peat are called 
light; and all soils containing clay- 
are called loamy. What is called a 
light rich soil, is generally composed 
of very sandy loam, mixed with vege- 
table mould, or the sifted remains of 
an old hotbed. 

Solanum. — Solanacece. — The 
Nightshade. The flowers of the 
plants belonging to this extensive 
genus all more or less resemble those 
of the common climbing Nightshade, 
or Bitter-sweet of the hedges, — and 
indeed those of the^otatoe, which 
belongs to this genus. They are all 
rather pretty, but their foliage is too 
coarse to be ornamental. S. cam- 
panulatum is perhaps the hand- 
somest species. Some of the species 
require a stove, others a greenhouse, 
and others the open air ; but they all 
agree in liking a rich light soil, and 
they all grow well in a mixture of 
loam and peat., enriched with vege- 
table mould. 

Soldanella. — Priinulacecs. — 
Beautiful little alpine plants, very 
suitable for rock work, some with 
purple, and some with blue flowers. 
They should be grown in heath- 
mould ; or in peat, mixed with very 
sandy loam ; and they are increased 
by seeds., or by dividing the root. 
They are generally grown in small 
pots, and they should neither have 
too much nor too little water. 

Solid ago. — Composites. — Golden 
Rod. Perennial plants, quite hardy 
in British gardens, where they flower 
in autumn. They are too tall for 
any small garden, and they are only 
suitable for the back row of a flower- 
border. They will grow in any com- 
mon garden soil, and they are in- 
creased by dividing the root. 

Sollya. — Pittisporacece. — This 
beautiful little shrub, though only 
introduced in 1830, is already as 
common as the Fuchsia, and it is 
a favourite everywhere. The leaves 



are evergreen, and the bright blue 
bell-shaped flowers, which are pro- 
duced in tufts near the ends of the 
branches, are so elegant that no one 
can see them without admiring them. 
The plant is a native of New Hol- 
land, and it is nearly hardy, as it 
will stand in the open air if trained 
against a wall and slightly protected 
during winter. It is, however, gene- 
rally grown in pots, in which the only 
objection to its culture is the cir- 
cumstance of its having the tips of 
its shoots frequently covered with 
aphides, the only cure for which is 
constant syringing. In the open air 
it is liable to the attacks of a black 
insect, similar in its nature to the 
aphis, but still more disagreeable. It 
should be grown in peat and loam, or 
in heath -mould, and it is propagated 
by seeds or cuttings. The fruit, which 
is a berry full of seeds, ripens freely ; 
but the cuttings are very difficult to 
strike, and indeed will rarely succeed 
without bottom-heat. Besides Sollya 
keterophylla, which is the common 
kind, two or three other kinds have 
been introduced by Captain Mangles 
from the Swan River. 

Solomon's Seal. — See Polygonum. 

Sonchus. — Compositce. — The 
Sow Thistle. The common herba- 
ceous species is a British weed ; but 
there are two or three shrubby kinds 
from the Madeira and Canary Isles, 
with yellow flowers, which are very 
ornamental. They should be kept 
in a greenhouse, and grown in light 
rich soil. 

SophoW. — LeguminoscB. — The 
common Sophora japonica is a large 
tree which grows freely in the neigh- 
bourhood of London, and produces its 
large bunches of cream-coloured flow- 
ers in August and September. The 
drooping Sophora, however, though 
only considered a variety of the tree, 
is very distinct. It is a trailing shrub, 
j sending out shoots six feet or eight 
T 2 



SOWING. 



6 



SOWING. 



feet long in a single season ; and 
when it is grafted on a stock of S. 
japonica, ten feet or twelve feet high, 
these long sweeping shoots, the bark 
of which is a bright green, have a pe- 
culiarly graceful appearance. The 
Sophora will grow in any soil, but a 
poor one suits it better than a rich 
one ; and its leaves seldom droop 
even in the driest seasons. 

Southernwood. — See Artemisia. 

Sowing. — The operation of com- 
mitting seeds to the soil in flower- 
gardening, is commonly done in 
patches ; but sometimes flowers are 
sown broadcast or in drills, and occa- 
sionally singly. When annuals are to 
be grown in borders containing a 
miscellaneous assemblage of flowers, 
they are commonly sown in small cir- 
cular patches, in intervals left on pur- 
pose among the perennials, or among 
the Roses and other low shrubs. Each 
patch is prepared by digging up a 
spadeful of the soil and returning it 
to its place with the surface down- 
wards ; then breaking it finely, and 
levelling and smoothing the surface ; 
and lastly, depressing or slightly hol- 
lowing out a circle from three to six 
inches in diameter, and from a quar- 
ter to a half an inch in depth, according 
to the size of the seeds to be sown. As 
most seeds germinate best when gently 
pressed into the soil, a very good 
mode for amateurs is to take the sau- 
cer of a flower-pot of the diameter of 
the patch, and gently press down the 
soil ; and then to strew a few seeds 
on the level surface thus formed. 
Half-a-dozen seeds will be sufficient, 
of even the smallest-growing plants, 
if the seeds are good. The nest ope- 
ration is to sprinkle a little fine soil 
over the seeds, so as to cover them to 
about the same thickness as the dia- 
meter of the seed. After this, the 
saucer should be again applied so as 
to press down the soil and the seeds 
together ; and if there be any danger 



apprehended from birds or drought, 
an empty flower-pot should be turned 
over the patch till the plants come up. 
The larger seeds of flowers, such as 
Lupins, Sweet Peas, &c, may be 
sown three or four in a patch ; and 
some kinds of Lupins, such as L. 
Cruickshdnkii and L. mutdbilis,vri\\ 
not require more than a single seed. 
In the case of large seeds, and of all 
the commoner kinds, the use of the 
saucer for preparing the ground, and 
of the empty flower-pot as a protec- 
tion, may be dispensed with. 

In sowing broadcast, the bed or 
space to be covered being stirred up 
with the spade and raked fine on the 
surface, should be gently smoothed 
with the back of the spade, and the 
seeds afterwards strewed over it, so 
as to lie, if the seed be good, at an 
inch or two apart : or less, if the 
plants are to be thinned out or trans- 
planted. The seeds may then be 
covered by strewing over them some 
fine mould: and this may be "firmed," 
as the gardeners term it. by gently 
beating the ground flat with the 
spade. For ordinary seeds, raking the 
surface smooth before sowing, and 
after sowing again raking it, will be 
found sufficient ; and the raking 
should always be light in proportion 
to the smallness of the seeds. In 
sowing grass-seeds to form a lawn, 
the ground should be beaten equally 
firm throughout, to prevent it from 
sinking unequally afterwards ; and 
after it has been rendered perfectly 
smooth and even, the seeds should be 
sown quite thick, and raked in so 
gently, that the teeth of the rake may 
not penetrate more than half an inch 
into the soil. 

Sowing in drills or little furrows 
drawn by the hoe, is chiefly required 
for edgingrs ; and, as the plants suited 
to this purpose are small, and also 
the seeds, great care ought to be 
taken to distribute them equally, 



spirjs'a. 



27 



7 



SQUILL. 



and not to cover them with too 
much earth. 

Spanish Broom. — Spartium jun- 
ceum. — See Spartium. 

Spara'xis. — Irideae. — Beautiful 
bulbous plants, that will flower vigor- 
ously if grown in a well-drained bed 
in tbe open air. For the mode of 
forming the bed, see Ixsa. 

Spartium. — Leguminoscs. — The 
Spanish Broom. — A well-known up- 
right shrub, with upright deep green 
branches, and very few leaves, which 
soon drop off. The flowers, which are 
in terminal racemes, are large, and of 
a deep yellow. It is a native of Spain 
and Portugal, and, in short, of the 
whole of tbe south of Europe ; where 
it grows in rocky situations, and in 
dry gravelly soils. In England it 
produces a good effect in a shrubbery, 
and it will grow vigorously wherever 
the soil is gravelly or sandy ; but 
it does not thrive in clay, as it 
has a long tap-root, which it can 
only send down where the soil is 
free. It is generally propagated by 
seeds. 

Spatala'nthus. — Ir'xdecB. — The 
Ribbon-flower. Avery handsome bulb- 
ous plant, requiring the usual treat- 
ment of Cape bulbs. — See Ixia. 

Speedwell. — See Veronica. 

Spha'gnum. — Cryptogamia. — A 
kind of moss. 

Spheno'gyne v . — Composites. — 
Beautiful annual plants, which only 
require sowing in March or April, in 
any common garden soil. 

Spider Ophrys. — See Ophrys. 

Spiderwort. — See Tradescantia. 

Spindle-tree. — See Euo'nymus. 

Spirje'a. — Rosacea. Hardy shrubs, 
generally natives of Siberia, with very 
pretty flowers. The handsomest kinds 
are, S. chamcedrifoUa, with spike-like 
corymbs of white flowers ; S. ulmi- 
folia, with flat corymbs of white 
flowers and large handsome leaves; 
S. hypericifolia, or Italian May ; S. 



salicifolia, Bridewort, or Queen's 
Needle-work, with spikes of pinkish 
flowers ; S. bella, a native of Nepal, 
■with corymbs of beautiful rose- 
coloured flowers, which it produces in 
May and June; S. opulifolia, the 
Virginian Guelder Rose, or Nine 
Bark, a native of North America, 
with corymbs of rather large white 
flowers ; S. aricefolia, a most beau- 
tiful species, a native of California, 
with loose panicles of feathery whitish 
flowers, which it produces in July 
and August ; and S, sorbifolia, with 
loose panicles of white flowers and 
pinnate leaves, from Siberia. All the 
kinds grow with most luxuriance in 
moist soil, having a poor and stunted 
appearance where the soil is dry and 
gravelly; and they are readily pro- 
pagated by suckers, which they throw 
up in great abundance. 

Spira'nthes. — OrchidacecB. — 
Ladies' Traces. Mostly tropical plants, 
which require a moist stove. — See 
Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Spleenwort. — Asplenium. Very 
beautiful ferns, which differ very much 
in their appearance, though they are 
all very handsome. They require, 
like all other ferns, to be grown in 
moist shady places. 

Spondias. — Terebinthacece. — The 
Hog-plum. West Indian trees, which 
require a stove in England, and which 
grow freely in a mixture of loam and 
peat. 

Sprekelia. — AmaryllidacecB. — 
The Jacobaea Lily. A bulbous-rooted 
plant, with splendid dark scarlet 
flowers. It is called Jacobaea, on 
account of the brilliant scarlet of its 
flowers, which the Spaniards in Peru 
thought resembled the scarlet swords 
worn by the knights of the order 
of St. James (Jacobaeus). For the 
culture, see Amaryllis. 

Spurge. — See Euphorbia. 

Spurge Laurel. — See Daphne\ 

Squill. — See Scilla. 



STAR. OF BETHLEHEM. 278 



STERCULIA. 



Squirting Cucumber. — See Mo- 

3IORDICA. 

Stachvs. — Labiates. — The Hedge 
Nettle. Shrubby and herbaceous 
plants," natives of Europe and North 
America, -which will grow freely in 
any light rich soil, and which are in- 
creased by cuttings or division of the 
root. 

Staff tree. — See Celastrus. 

Stag's horn. — See Rhus. 

Stanhopea. — Orchidacece.-Bea.xi- 
tiful Orchideous plants -with large 
■white flowers proceeding from the 
root. For the culture, see Orchi- 
deous Epiphytes. 

Stape'lia. — Asclepiadece. — Very 
curious stove-plants, with showy 
flowers proceeding from the root, 
which smell so much like carrion, 
that flesh-flies have been known to 
lay their eggs upon them. As these 
plants are very succulent, they are 
very apt to drop off, if they are grown 
in rich soil, or too much watered. 
They succeed best in sandy loam 
mixed with lime rubbish ; and they 
are propagated \ by cuttings, which 
should be laid on a shelf for two or 
three days to shrivel before they are 
planted. The plants from which the 
cuttings are taken should be kept 
quite dry for some time afterwards, 
as they are apt to rot from the wound. 
All the Stapelias are natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope. 

Staphylia. — Celastrinece. — The 
Bladder Nut. Hardy shrubs, natives 
of England and North America, that 
will grow freely in any common 
garden soil. The flowers are white, 
and the seed, which is brown, is pro- 
duced in a large inflated capsule or 
bladder. The seeds, when bored, are 
used in Catholic countries for ro- 
saries. 

Star of Bethlehem. — See Orni- 
thogalum. In the midland counties 
the large yellow Hypericum is called 
the Star of Bethlehem. 



Starwort. — See Aster. 

Statice v . — Plumbaginece Sea 

Lavender. Singular plants, the foot- 
stalks of the flowers of which are 
coloured so as to resemble flowers, 
while the real flowers are the white 
part at the extremity of the purple. 
The handsomest species belonging to 
the genus is S. arborea, a native of 
the Canaries, which is quite shrubby. 
This splendid plant should have 
plenty of room for its roots ; and thus 
when there is not a conservatory for 
it to be planted in, it does better in 
the open border with a slight protec- 
tion during winter than in a pot in a 
greenhouse. The soil in which it is 
grown should be half sandy loam and 
half vegetable mould. It is ex- 
tremely difficult to raise young plants 
by cuttings ; and though nurserymen 
contrive to make layers, it is so diffi- 
cult an operation, as to be scarcely 
practicable by an amateur. The com- 
mon kinds of Statice are generally 
increased by seeds, or by dividing the 
root; and they should be allowed 
plenty of space, as they are easily 
killed when crowded by other plants. 

Stellaria. — Caryophyllece. — 
Stitchwort. Very pretty plants, with 
white flowers, many of which are 
natives of Britain. They are all 
quite hardy, but they grow best in 
sandy soil. The dwarf kinds are very 
suitable for rockwork. They are pro- 
pagated by seeds, which they ripen 
freely, or by division of the root. 

Stenochis. — Composites. — S. spe- 
cibsa is a very showy perennial, with 
large and very handsome flowers. It 
is a native of California, and will 
grow in any common garden soil. It 
is increased by seed, or by dividing 
the roots. 

Stenochilus; — Myoporinece. — 
Australian shrubs, with scarlet flowers, 
which should be grown in sandy 
peat. 

Stercu LiA.--Byttneriacece.-Stove 



STIRRING THE SOIL. 



279 



STRAWBERRY BLUE. 



shrubs and low trees from the East 
and West Indies, "with greenish or 
whitish flowers. They should begrown 
in peat and loam ; and they are pro- 
pagated by cuttings of the ripe wood, 
not deprived of their leaves, ■which 
should be struck in sand, under a bell- 
glass, with bottom-heat. 

Sternbe'rgia. — Amaryllidacece." 
Hardy bulbs, with showy yellow 
flowers ; which only need planting in 
the open border. 

SteVia. — Composites, — Mexican 
perennials with tufts of very pretty 
white or pinkish flowers, which should 
be grown in sandy peat, and which re- 
quire a little protection during winter. 
S. Eupatorium is a very pretty plant 
for filling a bed in a geometric flower- 
garden, from its compact habit of 
growth, and the abundance of its 
flowers. 

Stirring the soil is an operation 
of considerable importance in the case 
of all plants in a high state of culture, 
and especially of young plants. When 
soil is loosened to the depth of even 
two or three inches, it admits the air 
and the rain beneath the surface ; 
and both, ! in this manner, convey their 
temperature to the soil, as well as 
their nutritive qualities to the roots. 
It is also remarkable that though 
soil when loosened is advantageous 
in communicating a warmer tempera- 
ture and moisture to what is below 
by admitting the air and the rain ; 
yet that in the heat of summer, plants 
growing in a soil the surface of which 
is kept loose, suffer less either from 
excess in heat or the want of rain, 
than plants in a soil which is kept 
firm. This will also apply to a cer- 
tain extent to plants in pots, though 
stirring the soil is of far less im- 
portance to them than to plants in 
the open ground ; as the heat of the 
surrounding atmosphere, whether it 
be advantageous or injurious, pene- 
trates readily through the sides of the 



pots, and the superfluous moisture 
is exhaled in the same manner. In 
stirring the soil among plants in the 
open ground, it must, however, be 
always remembered that the soil is 
full of roots, and therefore that the 
stirring must not be carried to more 
than a few inches in depth. It should 
also be performed with a fork rather 
than with a spade, in order that none 
of the roots may be cut. The soil 
should never be stirred, except when 
it is in a dry state, and when rain is 
not expected ; because should the soil 
be in a wet state when it is moved, or 
should rain occur immediately after- 
wards, it will defeat the end in view; 
viz. that of forming a porous surface 
layer, readily permeable by air and 
water. 

Stitchwort. — See Stellaria. 

Stock. — See Mathiola. 

Stove-crop. — See Sedum. 

Storax. — See Styrax. 

Stork's Bill. — See Geranium. 

Stramonium. — Solanacece. — The 
Thorn Apple. Large showy plants, 
conspicuous alike for their leaves, 
flowers, and fruit. They grow best 
in chalk or a calcareous loam ; and 
they are so completely hardy in 
Britain, and grow so freely from seed, 
that the common kind has become 
naturalised, and is frequently found 
growing wild. When these plants 
are grown in gardens, they should be 
allowed plenty of room, as their 
principal beauty is the wide-spread- 
ing and luxuriant character of their 
foliage. 

Stranvasia. — Rosacea. — The 
new name for Cratcegus glauca, an 
evergreen tree, a native of Nepal, 
with glaucous leaves, woolly beneath, 
and white flowers. It appears to be 
hardy, or very nearly so, and it is 
very handsome. It is generally pro- 
pagated by grafting on the common 
Hawthorn. 

Strawberry BLiTE.-See Blitum 



styli'dium. 



280 



SUNFLOWER. 



Strawberry tree. --See Ar'butus. 

Strelitzia. — Musacece. — Magni- 
ficent plants with large long leaves, 
and very large and singular orange 
and purple flowers. They are ge- 
nerally kept in a stove, but they will 
flower in greenhouse or room, if kept 
sufficiently moist. They should be 
grown in light sandy loam. They 
are very difficult to propagate, but 
they sometimes send up suckers, and 
sometimes ripen seeds. 

Strepta'nthera. — Iridecs. — Cape 
bulbs with very showy flowers ; 
which may either be grown in pots, or 
in beds in the open air. — See Ixia. 

Streptoca / rpus. --BignoniacecB. — 
A very handsome perennial plant 
from South .Africa, which requires a 
stove in England; but which when 
properly treated produces its beautiful 
and elegant pale purple flowers in 
great abundance. It is nearly allied 
to Gloxinia, but it has twisted seed- 
pods. It should be grown in equal 
parts of peat, loam, and sand ; and it 
is increased by seeds, which it ripens 
freely. 

St ipa. — Graminece. — Siipa pin- 
naia, the Feather-gra3s, is an ex- 
tremely elegant plant which grows 
freely in light rich soil, and is in- 
creased by seed, or division of the 
root. 

Stuartia. — TernstrcemiacecB. ■ — 
A North American shrub or low tree, 
with large white flowers, nearly allied 
to Malachodendron. It will grow in 
any common garden soil that is 
tolerably light, and it flowers freely. 
It is propagated by layers, or cuttings. 
— See Malachodendron. 

Styli'dium. — Stylidecs. — Aus- 
tralian shrubs and perennials, ge- 
nerally kept in a greenhouse, with 
small pinkish or purple flowers, the 
stamens of which are irritable, and 
move when touched. All the species 
should be grown in sandy peat, or 
heath mould ; and the perennials are 



propagated by seeds or division of the 
root, and the shrubby species by 
cuttings. 

Styrax. — Styracinece Storax. 

Ornamental shrubs, with white 
flowers, natives of Europe and North 
America ; which grow best in sandy 
peat, or heath mould, and flower 
freely. They are propagated by layers. 

Succisa. — See Scabiosa. 
Succory. — Cichorium Inlybus is 
a British plant, with brilliant blue 
flowers, which grows freely in sandy 
soils, and which may be grown with 
the greatest ease in gardens. 

Succulent plants are those which 
have both their stems and leaves pro- 
vided with so few stomata or breath- 
ing pores, as to be able to retain a 
great portion of the moisture which is 
evaporated by other plants. These 
plants are generally natives of sandy 
deserts, where for half the year they 
are entirely destitute of water, and 
where their capability of retaining 
moisture is necessary to keep them 
alive. When grown in Europe, they 
are well adapted for sitting-rooms, as 
they are capable of bearing a greater 
degree of dryness in the air than most 
other plants ; but they are very liable 
to be injured by too much water, as 
in the cloudy atmosphere of England 
their stomata are not sufficiently 
numerous to euable them to throw it 
off ; and it rots them, or, as gardeners 
express it, they damp off. All succu- 
lent plants when grown in pots should 
have abundant drainage, and should 
never be suffered to stand with water 
in the saucer ; and the soil in which 
they are grown should be mixed with 
sand or lime rubbish to keep it open, 
and in a state fit for their roots to 
penetrate through it. 

Sugar-cane. — See Sa'ccharum. 

Sumach. — See Rhus. 

Summer Cypress. — See Xochia. 

Sundew. — See Dro'sera. 

Sunflower. — See Helianth us. 



SYMPHORIA. 



281 



SYRINGA. 



Sun-rose.— See Helianthemum. 

Sutherlandia. — LeguminoscB. — 
A pea-flowered shrub, with scarlet 
flowers, formerly called Colutea 
frutescens ; a native of the Cape of 
Good Hope, which is half-hardy in 
British gardens, and which should be 
grown in sandy loam. 

Swainsonia. — LeguminoscB. — 
Pea-flowered shrubs, natives of Aus- 
tralia, with purplish flowers, which 
should be kept in a greenhouse, and 
grown in heath mould. — See Aus- 
tralian shrubs. 

Swallow-wort. — See Asclepias, 
and Chelidonium. 
. Sweet Bay. — See Laurus. 

Sweet Briar. — See Ro v sa. 

Sweet Gale. — See Myrica. 

Sweet Marjoram.— See Origanum. 

Sweet Pea, — See Lathyrus. 

Sweet Potato. — B a talis edulis. 
— A tuberous-rooted plant, formerly 
considered to belong to Convolvulus, 
then to Ipomsea, but now separated 
from both. It is a native of South 
America, where it is called Batatis ; 
and it requires a stove in England. 

Sweet Sop, or Custard Apple. — 
See Anona. 

Sweet Sultan. — See Amberbo\a, 
and Centaure v a. 

Sweet William, — Dianthus bar- 
batus. — See Dianthus. 

SwrETENiA. — Cedrelacece or Me- 
liacece. — The Mahogany tree. A tree, 
a native of the West Indies, requiring 
a stove in England. It is grown in 
loam and peat, and is propagated by 
cuttings. The flowers are reddish, 
but have no beauty. 

Sword Fern. — Xiphopteris ser- 
rulata. — A native of the West Indies. 

Symphoria. — Caprifoliacece. — St. 



Peter's Wort. Bushy, deciduous 
shrubs, which grow so freely in any 
common garden soil, and send up so 
many suckers, that when once planted, 
it is difficult to eradicate them. The 
flowers of S. glomerata are produced 
in clusters, and the berries are small 
and reddish. S. racembsus, the 
Snow-berry, has pinkish flowers, 
which are disposed in such loose 
racemes as to appear almost solitary ; 
and which are succeeded by large 
white berries which are very orna- 
mental. There is another species, S. 
occidentalism with very large leaves, 
and drooping racemes of flowers, 
which has not yet been introduced. 
All the kinds are natives of North 
America. S. racemosus is sometimes 
grafted on Lonicera Xylosteum, to 
avoid the inconvenience of its numer- 
ous suckers. 

Symphoricarpos. — Michaux's name 
for the Snowberry. — See Symphoria. 

Syngenecious plants. Plants be- 
longing to the 19 th class of the Lin- 
nean system, and the natural order 
Composite. 

S yringa. — Oleinece. — The Lilac , 
— Well-known deciduous shrubs, with 
purplish or white flowers, natives of 
Europe and the colder parts of Asia, 
and valuable in British shrubberies for 
the early appearance of their leaves in 
spring, and for the beauty and fra- 
grance of their flowers. There are 
several species and varieties, varying 
principally in the colour of the flowers, 
They are all quite hardy in British 
gardens, and they will grow in any 
common soil. They are propagated 
by layers and suckers, which they pro- 
duce in great abundance. 



TALINUM. 



282 



TALLIES. 



T. 



Tabern.*: Montana. — Apocynece. 
— Trees and shrubs from the East 
and West Indies, which require a 
stove in England. They have gene- 
rally white fragrant flowers, resem- 
bling those of the common Jasmine,hut 
are many times larger. They should 
be grown in loam and peat ; and they 
are propagated by cuttings which re- 
quire a moist heat to make them 
strike. 

Tacamahac. — The Indian name for 
the Balsam Poplar ; a species that 
should be cultivated in ornamental 
plantations for the beautiful yellowish 
green of its leaves, which appear very 
early in spring. 

Tacsonia. — Passifloracece. — 
Climbing plants, nearly allied to the 
Passion Flower, with pinkish flowers 
and golden, ball-like fruit. They are 
generally kept in a stove, but they 
will both grow and flower freely in 
greenhouse -heat. They should be 
grown in sandy loam and peat, and 
they are propagated by cuttings. 

Tagetes. — Composites. — The 
French and African Marigolds. Well- 
known half-hardy annuals with showy 
flowers that have a very disagreeable 
smell. The seeds are generally sown 
on a slight hot-bed, and transplanted 
in May. 

Talauma. — Magnoliacece. — Low 
trees and shrubs from Java and other 
parts of the East Indies, with very 
fragrant white flowers, nearly allied 
to the Magnolias. The plants should 
be grown in loam and peat if kept in 
the stove, and they may be propa- 
gated by layers and cuttings ; but by 
inarching them on Magnolia purpu- 
rea, they may be brought to flower 
in a conservatory or greenhouse. 

Talindm. — Portulacece. — Succu- 
lent plants, shrubby and perennial, 
mostly natives of the West Indies, 



and with dark red or purple flowers. 
They should be grown in sandy peat 
with a little loam, and they require 
but little water. They are propagated 
by cuttings. 

Tallies for plants — are of various 
kinds, according as the plant is large 
or small, grown in the open air or 
under glass, and according as the ob- 
ject is of a permanent or temporary 
nature. Tallies for trees, as in the 
case of an Arboretum, which is to 
endure for many years, are formed of 
iron, stone, or brick ; those for 
herbaceous plants, of iron or wood; 
and those for plants, in pots kept in 
houses, of porcelain, wood, lead, zinc, 
and sometimes, though rarely, of iron. 
Tallies for plants kept in nurseries in 
pots, are commonly of wood, on which 
a little white paint is rubbed with the 
finger, and the name written with a 
black-lead pencil ; those for plants 
taken up and packed to be sent to a 
distance, are commonly of parch- 
ment, with the name written in ink ; 
but nursery labels are formed of 
wood and tied to trees, or of pieces of 
lead stamped with numbers. The 
object in every case connected with 
the nursery business is simply to 
identify the species or variety ; but in 
the case of private gardens, it is not 
only to do this, but to produce an 
object that shall not be unsightly in a 
garden. For this latter purpose, 
porcelain tallies (fig. 33), which are 

FIG. 33. 




PORCELAIN TALLY FOR POTS. 



TALLIES. 



283 



TAMARIX. 



formed of various sizes and shapes, 
are best for pots ; and tallies of cast- 
iron, with panels for tablets contain- 
ing the names, to be covered with 
glass (fig. 34), are the most efficient 
for plants in the open ground. Where 

fig. 34. 




CAST-IRON OR ZINC TALLY FOR THE OPEN 
GROUND. 

it is not desired to display the name, 
the simplest and least expensive mode 
is to mark a number on a wood tally 
or stick, and this may be done either 
by notching the stick with a knife, 
which is the common practice among 
gardeners ; or by cutting a portion of 
it smooth, rubbing it with a little 
white lead (white paint), and writing 
the number while it is yet moist with 
a black-lead pencil. Of all the dif- 
ferent modes which have hitherto 
been devised of naming or numbering 
plants in gardens (and they amount, 
perhaps, to hundreds), the mode by 
a stick, white lead, and a black lead 
pencil, is, perhaps, the best for private 
gardens ; and it is, undoubtedly, by 
far the cheapest. In numbering or 
naming plants in a garden, where good 
taste ought to preside, it must always 
be recollected that the means ought 
to be kept subordinate to the end, and 



that the names of plants should in no 
private garden be more conspicuous 
than the plants themselves. The 
cheapest kind of Tally is a thin strip 
of zinc, pointed with white-lead, and 
then written on with a lead pencil ; 
and these strips of zinc may be had 
cut into the proper sizes, at the zinc 
manufacturer's in the New Road. 

Tallow-tree. — Stillegia sebifera. 
A stove-plant, which should be grown 
in peat and loam. It belongs to Eu- 
phorbiaceae. 

Tamarind Tree. — See Tamarin- 
dus. 

Tamarindus. — Legumhwsce. — 
The Tamarind Tree. There are two 
kinds of Tamarinds ; T. zndica, a 
native of the East Indies, with yellow 
flowers striped with red, and T. Occi- 
dent alis, a native of the West Indies, 
the flowers of which are white. Both 
kinds, however, very rarely flower in 
this country, probably because the 
trees have not sufficient room for their 
roots. The plants may be raised 
from seeds of preserved Tamarinds 
sown in a hot-bed ; and they are Avorth 
growing for their handsome foliage. 
They require a strong heat and a rich 
soil, and they should be supplied with 
plenty of water. The soil should be 
composed of equal parts of fresh turfy 
loam and vegetable mould or rotten 
dung, with a little sand or peat, and 
these ingredients should be well 
mixed together before the compost is 
used. Young plants may also be 
raised from cuttings, which strike 
freely in sand with the help of bot- 
tom-heat. 

Tamarix. — Tamariscinece. — The 
Tamarisk. Tall shrubs, mostly na- 
tives of Europe, which are sub-ever- 
green, and useful in withstanding the 
sea-breeze. A great many species are 
enumerated in books ; but only two 
are common in British gardens. These 
are Tamarix gdllica, the French 
Tamarisk ; and T. germanica, L.— - 



TAMUS. 



284 



TAN. 



( Myricaria germdnica, Desv.), the 
German Tamarisk. The French Ta- 
marisk is by far the handsomest, and 
as it will thrive close to the sea-shore, 
and produces its long terminal spikes 
of pinkish flowers in autumn, when 
people generally visit the coast, it is 
a most valuable shrub for the gardens 
of sea-port towns. It should be 
grown in a deep sandy soil, and it is 
propagated by cuttings taken off in 
autumn. 

Tamus. — Dioscoriacece or Tamece. 
— The Black Bryony. There are two 
kinds of Bryony common in English 
woods very different in the eyes of a 
botanist, but bearing considerable re- 
semblance to each other in the eyes 
of an amateur. They are both found 
wild in hedges and thickets, through 
which they contrive to insinuate their 
long slender stems and branches, 
hanging from tree to tree ; they have 
both greenish - white inconspicuous 
flowers ; the fruit of both consists of 
bunches of showy red berries ; and 
both of which have tuberous roots, 
of a very acrid nature. They are 
also both dioecious ; but this is 
the only botanical resemblance be- 
tween them. The White Bryony 
{Bryonia didica) belongs to the Na- 
tural Order Cucurbitaceae, and it is 
the only British plant belonging to 
that order. Its leaves are rough 
aDd palmate ; its flowers have a 
calyx and a corolla, both of which are 
five-cleft, and its stem is climbing 
and furnished with numerous ten- 
drils. The Black Bryony {Tamus 
commilnis) has, on the contrary, 
smooth, shining, heart-shaped leaves 
of a very deep and glossy green ; the 
flowers consist of only one covering, 
which is six-cleft, and its stem is 
twining without tendrils. The names 
of Black and White Bryony allude 
to the colour of the skin covering the 
roots, which in one species is black 
and in the other white. The root 



of the White Bryony may easily 
be made to grow in any shape that 
may be wished by placing it when 
young in an earthenware mould. This 
curious property was formerly fre- 
quently taken advantage of by de- 
signing people, who having thus ob- 
tained roots of frightful forms, showed 
them for money as natural curiosities. 
The Black Bryony belongs to the 
same natural order as the Yam. For 
the Elephant's-foot, which was for- 
merly considered to belong to the 
genus Tamus, see Testudinaria. 

Tan. — The bark of Oak or of other 
trees, after it has been used by tan- 
ners. When it is received by gar- 
deners from the tan-pits, it is gene- 
rally wet and without heat ; but 
after it has been laid in a ridge in an 
open shed for two or three weeks, 
and turned over two or three times, 
it becomes drier and begins to fer- 
ment, when heat is evolved in a 
greater or lesser degree according to 
the size of the mass. In this state it 
is fit to be introduced into pits or 
beds in hothouses for the purpose of 
supplying bottom-heat. For ordinary 
purposes the bed or layer of tan need 
not be thicker than eighteen inches or 
two feet, but when a very powerful 
heat is required, double that thick- 
ness is desirable. The pots in which 
the plants are contained, when large, 
should at first not be plunged more 
than half their depth in the tan ; or 
even, in some cases, they should be 
set on its surface. But after the first 
violent heat has subsided, they may 
be plunged to the brim. When the 
heap begins to cool, in consequence of 
the fermentation diminishing, the tan 
may be turned over and the pots re- 
plunged, adding a little fresh tan, if 
necessary, to keep the pit to the pro- 
per degree of fulness. When the heat 
subsides a second time, the tan may 
be again turned and a larger portion 
of fresh material added ; and the third 



TANGIER PEA. 



285 



TECOMA. 



time the old tan may be sifted in 
turning, and afterwards mixed with 
new. To prolong the heat in tan by 
diminishing the intensity of the fer- 
mentation, common salt is sometimes 
added ; and to increase the fermen- 
tation, yeast, though rather an expen- 
sive material, is sometimes mixed with 
it. The heat of the tan-bed should 
generally exceed the heat of the at- 
mosphere of the house by from 3° to 
10°, according to circumstances ; and 
it should seldom be lower than 60°, 
or higher than 75° or 80°. In gene- 
ral, a tan-pit or bed requires to be 
turned three or four times a year ; 
and if salt is sprinkled over it each 
time, the fermentation will be so far 
retarded that the bed will retain its 
heat for a twelvemonth. For the 
purpose of growing Pine Apples or 
large hot-house plants, oak or other 
leaves, or even dung, may be substi- 
tuted for tan ; but for the purpose of 
striking cuttings, tan is greatly prefer- 
able, because the heat produced is 
not accompanied with so much mois- 
ture, and hence the cuttings are not 
liable to be damped off. In situations 
where tan or leaves cannot be pro- 
cured, sawdust is an excellent substi- 
tute, and even the husks of oats. 
Sawdust is an excellent medium for 
the striking Epacrideee and the Cape 
Heaths ; the heat being more gentle 
and regular than with most other fer- 
mentating substances. "When tan has 
lost the greater part of its heat, it then 
forms an excellent medium for striking 
fleshy-leaved plants, such as Bromelia, 
which require rather a dry heat, and a 
medium which undergoes the least pos- 
sible change in respect to moisture. 

Tanacetum. — Compositce. — The 
Tansy. Herbaceous plants, which 
are quite hardy in any common gar- 
den soil, and which are increased by 
dividing the roots. 

• Tangier Pea. — Ldthyrus Tingi- 
tanus. — See Lathyrus. 



Tansy. — See Tanacetum. 

Taxodium. — Coniferce. — See De- 
ciduous Cypress. 

Taxus. — Coniferce. — The Yew. 
The common yew is too large a tree 
to be noticed here ; but the Irish yew ? 
from its erect form and broad leaves, 
makes a very handsome plant, which, 
from the slowness of its growth, may 
for a long time be almost considered a 
shrub. There are also some Japan 
and Chinese species (some of which 
are now included in the genus Podo- 
carpus), which are very ornamental. 
They will all grow in any garden soil, 
and are raised by seeds. 

Teak Wood. — See Tectona. 

Tea Tree.— See Thea. The Duke 
of Argyle's tea-tree, Ly'cium bar- 
barum, is often called the Tea-tree in 
gardens, from the following droll mis- 
take. A Duke of Argyle, who lived 
about a hundred years ago, and who 
was a great patron of gardening and 
botany, sent out to China for the tea- 
tree, which was obtained ; but unfor- 
tunately the voyage home being very 
rough, the label was transferred acci- 
dentally to a plant of the Lycium 
barbarum, which had been obtained 
from the coast of Barbary. The real 
tea-plant died before it reached Eng- 
land, and the Lycium being at that 
time unknown in Britain, it was sup- 
posed to be the tea- tree, till an exami- 
nation of dried specimens, &c, proved 
the mistake. 

Tecoma. — Bignoniacece. — The 
Trumpet Flower. All the species 
which now compose the genus Tecoma 
were formerly well known under the 
name of Bignonia, particularly T. 
rddicans, the common trumpet- 
flower, which is quite hardy in British 
gardens, and T. grandiflbra, which 
is nearly so. Some of the species 
require a greenhouse, and some a 
stove ; but they all grow freely in a 
rich, light, loamy soil, and they are all 
propagated by cuttings of the roots. 



TENO ( RIA. 



286 



TEUCRIUM. 



Tect6na. — Verbenacecs. — The 
Teak-wood. T. grdndis is a timber- 
tree in the East Indies, and almost 
the only tree in that country fit for 
ship-building. In England, however, 
it is a stove-plant, which requires a 
strong heat to make it grow. It 
should be grown in loam and peat, 
and it is propagated by cuttings. The 
flowers are white. 

Telo v pea. — Proteacece. — The 
Warratah. The brilliant scarlet 
flowers of this plant, which are con- 
spicuous even at a great distance, are 
said to have been one cause why the 
coast of New South Wales was dis- 
tinguished by its first visitors as 
Botany Bay, in allusion to the great 
accession to botany likely to be de- 
rived from a country where the plants 
appeared so different to those of Eu- 
rope. The flower of the Warratah 
may be compared to a gigantic head of 
clover of the most intense and bril- 
liant scarlet ; but it is not common in 
England, probably because it is a very 
difficult plant to manage. The first 
point to be attended to is to have the 
pot in which it is grown thoroughly 
well drained ; and the next to allow 
it abundance of light and air. It is 
generally kept in a stove in England ; 
but it succeeds better in a greenhouse, 
at least during the summer months ; 
as it is very apt to become covered 
with insects if it is kept all the year 
in a hothouse. It is propagated by 
cuttings or suckers, which it throws up 
in abundance ; and it should be grown 
in heath mould, mixed with white 
sand and a little loam. It should be 
regularly watered in the flowering 
season ; but it may be kept almost 
dry during the winter months. 

Templetonia. — Leguminoscs. — 
Australian shrubs, with red pea 
flowers, which require a greenhouse 
in England, and which should be 
grown in sandy peat. 

Tenoria. — Umbelliferce. — The 



shrubby species of Hare's Ear. — See 
Bupleurum. 

Tenthre n do. — See Sawfly. 

Testudinaria. — Dioscorecs. — 
Elephanfs-foot, or Hottentot Bread. 
A very singular plant, with an enor- 
mous scaly root above ground, from 
which issues a slender stem, with 
small flowers. The plant is a native 
of the Cape, from which country roots 
are frequently received. It should 
have a season of complete repose, 
without any water being given to it 
when it is not in a growing state ; 
and it should be grown in a mixture 
of equal parts of turfy loam, peat, and 
sand ; the large, scaly root being 
placed on the surface of the soil, and 
not buried in it. The earth in the 
pot should be then watered and kept 
moist till the fibrous roots begin to 
appear, after which less water should 
be given till the slender stem appears, 
when the soil in the pot should be 
watered regularly and abundantly ; 
but no water should ever be poured 
on the scaly root. The flowers are 
dioecious, and have never yet produced 
seed in England. The substance of 
the scaly root is farinaceous, and it is 
said to be used by the Hottentots as 
food. The plant has never been pro- 
pagated in England ; all the plants 
grown in this country having been 
received in the state of dry roots from 
the Cape. 

Teucrium. — Labiates. — The Ger- 
mander. Hardy, half-hardy, and ten- 
der perennial, biennial, annual, and 
shrubby plants, the smaller kinds of 
which are suitable for rock work. 
Some of the kinds are showy border- 
flowers ; and others handsome green- 
house shrubs, particularly those that 
are natives of Madeira. T. Betonicum 
is perhaps one of the best of these, as 
it has loose spikes of fragrant crimson 
flowers. All the species require a 
light rich soil ; and they are propa- 
gated by seeds, cuttings, or division of 



THEA. 



287 



THEBMOPSIS. 



the roots, according to their respective 
kinds. 

Thalia. — Carina. — T. dealbata 
is an aquatic plant, a native of South 
Carolina, with very curious hlack and 
white fragrant flowers. It is ahout as 
hardy as Cdlla ethibpica, and re- 
quires the same treatment. — See 
Arum. 

Thauctrum. — Ranunculacece. — 
Meadow Rue. Perennial plants, na- 
tives of Europe and North America, 
which are quite hardy in British gar- 
dens. T. aquilegifolium and its 
varieties are very showy border-flow- 
ers ; and T. alpinum, and some other 
dwarf species, are elegant plants for 
rockwork. They all grow freely in 
any common garden soil. 

Thatching is sometimes applied as 
a protection to half-hardy trees in 
the open ground. Many half-hardy 
trees and shrubs may be protected 
from any danger from frost by laying 
straw over the roots and collar of the 
stem, and then thatching it, as shown 
in Fig. 35. 

Fig. 35. 




PROTECTING HALF-HARDY TREES BY 
THATCHING. 

Thea. — Ternstrcemiaceee. — Ever- 
green half-hardy shrubs, natives of 



China, and nearly allied to the Ca- 
mellia, from which indeed they differ 
only slightly in the capsule. They 
are only half-hardy in British gardens. 
TheaBohea, indeed, requires protec- 
tion every winter ; but T. vzridis 
will live in the open air with very 
slight protection (such as laying straw, 
&c, over the roots) in severe frosts. 
The flowers of both kinds resemble 
those of small single white Camellias ; 
and they are cultivated more from the 
curiosity which most persons feel to 
see the plants producing tea, than 
from any real beauty they possess. 

Theobro^ma. — Byttneriacece. — 
The Chocolate-nut Tree. The tree 
from the nuts of which cocoa and 
chocolate are prepared, comes very ap- 
propriately after the Tea Tree. There 
are three species, all natives of South 
America, with brownish flowers ; all 
of which require a stove in England, 
and should be grown in light rich 
soil. 

Theophrasta .—Apocynece.— 'Stove 
plants with very handsome leaves and 
white flowers. They are grown in 
loam and peat, and they are propa- 
gated by cuttings. 

Thermometer. — No amateur 
should attempt to grow plants in a 
greenhouse or stove, or even in a hot- 
bed, without being provided with a 
thermometer to regulate the degree 
of heat. A very ingenious one with 
a long tube for plunging into the 
ground has been contrived for ascer- 
taining the heat of a hotbed or tan- 
pit. 

Thermopsis. — ■ Leguminosce. — 
Herbaceous plants with yellow flow- 
ers, natives of Europe and North 
America, which should be grown in 
very rich soil, but which are quite 
hardy in the open air in Britain. 
There is one ligneous species, Ther- 
mopsis laburnifblia, D. Don, (Ana- 
gyris indica, Willd.,) but it is now 
generally called Piptanthus nepa- 



THUJA. 



288 



THUNBERGIA. 



lemis. (See Piptanthus.) None 
of the species belonging to this genus 
will thrive unless they are grown in 
very rich mould. 

Thistle. — See Carduus. 

Thomasia. — ByttneriacecB. — 
Pretty little Australian shrubs, for- 
merly called Lasiopetalum. They 
should be grown in sandy peat, and 
kept in a greenhouse. 

Thorn Apple — See Datura and 
Stramonium. 

Thrift. — Stdtice Armeria, Lin. ; 
Armeria vulgaris, "Willd. — See Ar- 
meria. 

Tkrips. — Very small flies, not 
above a line in length, and which 
seem rather to leap than to fly away 
when it is attempted to catch them ; 
throwing up the lower part of their 
bodies at the same time, as though 
they curled themselves up to take a 
spring. They are very destructive, 
and attack both leaves and petals, 
causing both to curl up, and after- 
wards to turn yellow and drop off. 
The larvse are nearly as large as the 
perfect insect, and of a pale yellow ; 
and the insect itself is first yellowish, 
bat afterwards becomes black. As 
soon as the ravages of these little 
creatures are perceived, the plants 
they have attacked should be well 
and frequently syringed, and exposed 
as much as possible to the free air ; 
hand-picking in their case being of 
little avail, from the very small size 
of the insects and their extraordinary 
activity. 

Throatwort. — See Trachelium. 

Thuja. — Coniferce. — The Arbor 
Vitae^ There are two kinds of Arbor 
Vita? common in British gardens, the 
American (Thuja occidentalis), and 
the Chinese (T. orientalis), both 
having several varieties. The Ame- 
rican species is an open-growing tree 
with horizontal branches ; and in 
America, where it is called the White 
Cedar, it grows in swamps. The Chi- 



nese Arbor Vitse, on the contrary, is 
a close-growing tree, with upright 
branches, and should be grown in a 
dry soil. Both are quite hardy in 
the climate of London, and both are 
propagated by layers and cuttings; the 
former taking two years to root, and 
the latter being very difficult to strike. 
Besides these there are several other 
species, most of which require a 
greenhouse or protection during win- 
ter. The principal of these are 
Thuja pendula and T. articulata, 
Desf. ( Callltrisquadrivalvis,Vent.); 
the latter species, which is a native 
of Mount Atlas, in Barbary, produ- 
cing the gum Sandarach, aud being 
the celebrated Spanish wood Alerce, 
which is so hard that it is said to re- 
sist fire, and of which the cathedral 
of Cordova was built. It is also sup- 
posed to have been the sandal-wood 
of the ancients. 

Thunbergia. — Acanthacece.-- The 
beautiful climbing plants generally 
known by this name differ very much 
in the colour of their flowers, though 
very little in their shape. Some bo- 
tanists divide them into three genera. 
T.Hawtayneana, with dark-purplish 
flowers, they call Meyenia ; and of T. 
coccinea, with three other nearly- 
allied species, they have formed the 
genus Hexacentris ; while they leave 
T. grandiflora, with dark blue flow- 
ers, T. fragrans, the flowers of 
which are white and sweet-scented, 
T. aurantiaca, with orange flowers, 
and T. alata, with buff flowers, with 
its white-flowered variety, in the ge- 
nus Thunbergia. T. alata, and T. 
aurantiaca, which is probably only a 
darker-coloured variety, are the most 
common of these kinds, and they may 
be grown either as stove or greenhouse 
climbers, or as half-hardy annuals. 
T. alata is a native of the East In- 
dies, and when treated as either a 
greenhouse or a stove plant, it is very 
apt to be covered with the red spider 



thysano'tus. 



289 TONQUIN BEAN. 



(see Acarus) ; but these insects sel- 
dom appear upon it when it is grown 
in the open air. When treated as an 
annual, the seeds should be sown in 
January on a slight hotbed, or in a 
sheltered situation in the open ground. 
The best soil for them is equal parts 
of peat and silver sand, to which a 
little vegetable mould may be added. 
The soil should be kept moist, but it 
should be well drained, as the plants 
will perish if either kept too dry or 
suffered to have their roots in stag- 
nant water. When planted in the 
open air, where they are finally to 
remain, the long shoots should be 
pegged down at the joints all over the 
bed ; and thus treated they will send 
up innumerable flower-stalks, so as to 
make the whole bed appear a mass of 
flowers. T. aurantiaca may be 
treated in the same manner ; but T. 
a. albiflbra is rather more tender, 
and appears generally to succeed bet- 
ter in a greenhouse than in the open 
air. When these plants are grown in 
a stove and beset with the red spider, 
the only way to destroy it is to sy- 
ringe them with water heated to 120°. 
The other species of Thunbergia are 
always kept in the stove, and I believe 
have never been treated as annuals, 
though most of them seed freely. 
They are grown in loam and peat, 
and are propagated by cuttings. 

Thyme See Thymus. 

Thymus. — Labiates.-- TheThyme. 
Fragrant dwarf shrubs, very suitable 
for rockwork. T. grandiflbra is, 
perhaps, the most ornamental. They 
should be grown in light rich soil, and 
are increased by dividing the root. 

Thysano v tus. — Asphodelece . — 
Australian plants, with very singularly 
fringed flowers. The flowers expand 
about eight o'clock in the morning, 
and they close at two, never remain- 
ing unclosed longer than six hours. 
They are grown in a greenhouse or 
stove, in sandy loam and peat ; and, 



like all the Australian plants, care 
should be taken not to let them suf- 
fer from any excess, either of drought 
or moisture. They are propagated 
either by division of the root, or by 
seed. 

Tiger Flower. — See Tigridia. 

Tigri'dia. — Iridece. — The Tiger 
Flower. The commonest species of 
this splendid bulb was formerly called 
Ferraria Tigridia, but it is uow 
changed to Tigridia pavonia : there 
is a variety called T. p. leone, and a 
second species called T. conchiflora. 
They are all extremely handsome, 
producing abundance of their magni- 
ficent flowers in the open ground, 
which, however, are very short-lived, 
seldom remaining expanded more than 
a few hours. The plants are natives 
of Mexico, and the bulbs may be 
suffered to remain in the ground all 
the year if they can be kept dry ; there 
being more danger of their being de- 
stroyed by wet than frost. The best 
mode of treating them is perhaps that 
recommended for the Ixia. (See Ixia.) 

Tile-root. — See Geissorhiza. 

Tilla'ndsia. — Bromeliacece. — 
Very curious stove-plants, most of 
which are parasitical, and may be 
treated like the stove Orchidacece. 
(See Orchideous Epiphytes.) The 
others may be potted in a mixture of 
peat and loam, and propagated by 
suckers. They have all showy flowers, 
which they produce abundantly. 

Toad-flax- — See Linarta. 

Tobacco. — See Nicotiana. 

Tolpis. — See Hawkweed. 

Tonquin Bean. — Dipterix odo- 
rata, Schreb. — (Baryosma Tongo, 
Gsert.) — A leguminous plant, of no 
beauty in its flowers, which are purple, 
but cultivated for its bean-like seeds, 
which are remarkably fragrant. It is 
a native of Guiana, where it is a tall 
tree ; and it requires a stove in Eng- 
land, where it may be grown in a 
compost of peat and loam. 

u 



tournefo'rtia. 290 tragopy^rum. 



Toothache-trke. — See Xanthoxy- 

LON. 

Topiary. — The art of cutting yews 
and other trees into curious shapes, 
by putting a wire frame-work over 
them, and then clipping the trees into 
the desired form. This art was prac- 
tised to such an extent in ancient 
Rome, that the word for topiarist was 
used as synonymous with that for 
gardener. 

Tore'nia. — Scrophularinece. — 
Australian plants, with pretty flowers, 
which require to be kept in a green- 
house, and. grown in sandy loam. One 
species is a half-hardy annual, which 
may be raised on a hotbed, and planted 
out in May. 

Torreya. — Conifer as. — A very 
handsome evergreen tree, a native of 
Florida in North America, nearly 
allied to the yew, and forming a link 
between that tree and the hemlock 
oruce. The first specimen seen in 
Europe was sent in October 1840, 
from A.J. Downing, Esq., of New 
York, to Mr. Loudon, and was pre- 
sented by him to Mr. Masters, nur- 
seryman, of Canterbury. It is said to 
be hardy, and to grow in any common 
garden soil. 

ToRMENTi'LLA.-iZosame. — British 
plants with yellow flowers, which, 
though weeds, look very well on rock- 
work. The double-flowered variety 
of 7\ erecta is very ornamental, 

To'rtula. — Cryptogamia Musci. 
— Wall-moss. A kind of moss, very 
useful in making moss-houses, from 
the brightness and variety of its 
colours ; some of the species being of a 
dark blue-green, others of a rich yel- 
lowish green, others of a very pale 
pea-green, aDd one of a dark rich 
brown. They are all common in 
Britain. 

Touch-me-not. — See Impatiens. 

Tournefo'rtia. — Boraginece. — 
Hothouse and greenhouse shrubs, and 
hardy and half-hardy perennials, na- J 



tives of South America. T. Messer- 
schmidia is a greenhouse shrub, with 
very fragrant flowers, which have no 
beauty ; and T. heliotropioides is a 
half-hardy perennial, strongly resem- 
bling the Heliotrope in its flowers, but 
without any fragrance. They are all 
free-growing plants in sandy loam, 
and they are propagated by cuttings. 

Trache lium. — Campanulacecs. 
• — Throatwort. The most common 
species, T. cceruleum, is a half- 
hardy biennial, which requires to be 
raised on a hotbed, kept in a frame 
during winter, and planted out in 
spring, where it is to flower, in rich 
mould. 

Trachyme x ne\ — UmbellifercB. — 
Australian shrubs requiring a green- 
house. For the beautiful annual 
species, T. ccerulea, see Didiscus. 

Tradesca'ntia. — Commelineoe. — 
Spiderwort. Handsome herbaceous 
plants, the common kinds of which 
only require planting in the open 
ground, and in any common garden 
soil. There are, however, several 
hothouse plants belonging to the 
genus, and two or three Mexican or 
South American annuals, which all 
require a light soil, enriched with 
rotten dung or vegetable-mould. 

Tragopo^gon. — Composite. — 
Goat's Beard. Ornamental biennial 
plants, natives of Europe, which only 
require to receive the common treat- 
ment of similar plants, and to be 
grown in any garden soil. Of the 
British species, the most remarkable 
are T. praiensis, the popular name 
of which is Go-to-bed-at-noon, from 
the flowers closing in the middle of 
the day, and which has large yellow 
flowers, and a very curious feathery 
head of seeds ; and T. porrifolius, 
the common Salsafy, which has purple 
flowers, and the roots of which are 
occasionally dressed as a vegetable. 

Tragopy'rum. — Polygonece. — 
Goat's Wheat. Ornamental shrubby 



tra'pa. 



291 



TREE MALLOW. 



plants, with pink flowers, natives of 
Europe and America, which should 
be grown in very sandy loam, or 
heath-mould. 

Training is an important operation, 
whether it be applied to nailing trees 
against a wall, or to training herba- 
ceous plants over an iron or wooden 
frame-work. Climbing Roses may 
be trained as pyramids by fixing a 
pole with three legs, or three poles, 
in the ground, and suspending hoops 
from them, as shown in Fig. 36, and 

Fig. 36. 




MODES OF TRAINING ROSES, &C. TO FORM 
PYRAMIDS. 

this mode of training may be applied 
to various other plants. Plants in 
pots may be trained by fixing a num- 
ber of sticks or pins of iron, with 
hooks attached (a) in the earth in 
the pot, and resting hoops on them, 
as shown in Fig. 37. 

Tra'pa. — Hydrocharidece. — Wa- 
ter Caltrops. Aquatic plants, natives 
of Europe and the East Indies, with 
white flowers, and very curious nuts, 
which, when cooked, resemble in taste 
those of the chestnut, and are equally 
wholesome. The rhizoma should be 
planted, or the seeds sown, in loamy 



soil at the bottom of the water in 
which the plant is to grow. 

Fig. 37. 




MODS OF TRAINING PLANTS IN POTS. 



Traveller's Joy. — See Clematis. 

Tree Carnation. — Didnthus ar- 
boreus is in its wild state probably 
only the common Carnation which 
has been trained against a wall, and, 
by being kept continually growing, 
has been forced to take the character 
of a tree. It should be planted in 
calcareous loam, against an east or 
west wall, and carefully trained, giving 
it a little protection in case of severe 
frosts. 

Tree Mallow. — Lavatera. — Be- 
sides the common annual species of 
Lavatera, there are nine or ten species 
which are shrubby, and one of which, 
L. phoenicea, a native of the Canary 
Isles, is a tree 10 feet high. L. 
maritima is the commonest kind ; 
and as this is a native of Spain and 
the South of France, it will thrive in 
u 2 



TRICHOME v NA. 



292 



tro'llius. 



the open air in England, if slightly 
protected during severe frosts. L. 
triloba, L. subovata, and L. afri- 
cana, have all the same degree of 
hardiness, and they will all live and 
flower iii British gardens, if about the 
same care be bestowed on them as is 
usually given to the tree Peony. L. 
Olbia, with reddish flowers — L. 
Pseudo-Olbia, with pale purple 
flowers — L. unguiculata, and L. 
hispida, are all shrubby species, 
which require a greenhouse, and should 
be grown in loam and peat. 

Trefoil. — See Trifolium. 

Treme'lla. — Cryptogamia Fungi. 
— A kind of lichen found on dead 
wood, the surface of which is powdery. 

Trevira na. — Scrophularinece. — 
There is only one species, T. coccinea, 
and this is perhaps better known as 
Cyrilla pulchella. It is a dwarf 
shrub with bright scarlet flowers, 
which it produces in September ; and 
it should be kept either in a stove or 
in a warm greenhouse, the heat of 
which is between 60 and 70 degrees. 
It should be grown in a compost 
formed of equal parts of loam, peat, 
and sand, enriched with rotten cow- 
dung or vegetable mould, and it 
should be well and frequently syringed 
with warm water, to keep it clear of 
insects. When it is much infested 
with them, it will be advisable to heat 
the water to 120 degrees. It is pro- 
pagated by dividing the roots in Feb- 
ruary, taking care not to bruise them ; 
or by cuttings of the points of the 
shoots taken off in August ; and in 
both cases the plants are much im- 
proved by frequently shifting them as 
the pots fill with roots, and always 
into pots only a little larger than 
those in which the plants were grow- 
ing. Thus treated, the plants will 
become compact little bushes, and will 
flower abundantly. 

Trichome v na. — Iridece. — Bulbous 
plants, with fine hair-like stems, re- 



quiring the usual treatment of Cape 
bulbs. See Ixia. 

Tricosanthus. — Cucurbitacece. 
-—See Snake Gourd. 

Trifolium. — Leguminosee. — The 
clover, or Trefoil. Those who are 
accustomed to consider the trefoil 
as only the common clover of the 
meadows, will probably be surprised 
to find that there are nearly a hun- 
dred and fifty species, all more or 
less ornamental. Some of these are 
perennials and some annuals ; and 
the colour of their flowers varies 
from dark crimson, and sometimes 
scarlet, to purple on the one hand, 
and to white, cream-colour, and pale 
yellow on the other. 

Tri'llium. — Melanthacece.' — Tu- 
berous-rooted plants, generally with 
dark brown or reddish flowers, which 
have a remarkably rich and velvet- 
like appearance. They are all natives 
of North America, and they should 
all be grown in shady places, in sandy 
peat kept moist. Thus treated they 
will flower freely, and their flowers 
will have a very rich and singular 
effect. 

Tripti'llon. — Composites. — Chi- 
lian annuals, which are hardy in 
Britain, and worth growing for their 
curious feathery 6eeds. 

Trista x nia. — Myrtacece. — Aus- 
tralian shrubs, nearly allied to Mela- 
leuca ; which require a greenhouse in 
England. They should be grown in 
sandy peat, and they are propagated 
by cuttings. 

Trito v nia. — Iridece. — Bulbous 
plants with splendid flowers, which 
will thrive in the open ground for 
many years without taking up, if 
grown in a dry sandy soil, or pro- 
tected from rain during winter. See 
Ixia. 

Tro'lliits. — Ranunculacece. — 
The Globe flower, is a British plant 
frequently grown in gardens, but on 
which cultivation appears to have had 



TROP^E OLUM. 



293 



no effect. There are some exotic 
species. 

Tropje olum. — Tropceolacece. — 
The Garden Nasturtium. The 
well-known annual plants called the 
Nasturtium are common in every 
garden, and only require sowing with 
the other hardy annuals in spring ; 
they may be suffered to sow them- 
selves in autumn. There were for- 
merly on]y two kinds of the annual 
Tropseolums, T. major and T. minor ; 
but since 1830, several varieties have 
been raised. One with very dark 
flowers, is called T. m. atrosangui- 
neum, and another with dark stripes 
is T. m. venustum. The young 
shoots of these plants are succulent, 
and taste like the common land cress, 
the botanical name of which is Nas- 
turtium, and hence they have received 
their popular name. Besides the 
hardy annual kinds, there are several 
half-hardy species, most of which are 
kept in the greenhouse. The best 
known in these is Tropceolum tri- 
colorum, with red, black, and yellow 
flowers, which has tuberous roots, 
and such very weak and slender 
stems, that it is found necessary al- 
ways to train them over a wire frame, 
as they are quite unable to support 
themselves. In Paxton's Magazine 
of Botany it is stated, that the tuber 
of the root should not be buried, but 
only placed on the surface of the soil, 
so that the fibrous roots may pene- 
trate it. This, he says, will enlarge 
the bulb or tuber in " a truly asto- 
nishing manner," and though the 
plants will not appear healthy the 
first season, they will afterwards be- 
come extremely vigorous. He also 
recommends using double pots for 
these plants, and lilling up the inter- 
stices with river sand, which should 
always be kept moist. T. brachy- 
ceras may be treated in the same 
manner ; and it would probably suc- 
ceed with T. tuberosum, a species 



which it is very difficult to throw into 
flower under ordinary treatment ; 
but which grows best in the open 
ground, in rich soil, and with plenty 
of air and light. T. peregrinum, 
the Canary Bird flower, was formerly 
considered a greenhouse plant, but it 
is now found much better to treat it 
as a half-hardy annual, raising the 
seeds on a hot-bed and planting them 
oyt in May, near some trellis work, 
or other support, which the plant will 
soon cover in the most graceful man- 
ner, producing thousands of its ele- 
gant fringe-like pale yellow flowers. 
For the culture of Tropceolum pen- ' 
taphyllum, see Chymocarpus. 

True Service. — Py'rus Sorbus, 
or Sorbus domes tica. 

Trumpet Flower. — See Bigno- 
nia and Tecoma. 

Tuber. — Tubers closely resemble 
in their nature what are called solid 
bulbs or corms, and appear to be re- 
servoirs of nourishment which have 
been laid up by nature for the sup- 
port of the infant plant. Some 
tubers have numerous buds in differ- 
ent parts of their substance, like the 
potato, and others have only buds in 
the upper part like the Dahlia, and 
Ranunculus. 

Tuberose. — See Polianthes. 

Tulip See Tulipa. 

Tu x lipa.— Tulipacece.— The Tu- 
lip. The greater part of the Tulips 
grown in gardens are varieties of one 
species, Tillipa Gesneriana, a na- 
tive of the Levant ; but there are 
several other distinct species. One 
of the most beautiful of these is the 
wild French Tulip, T. sylvestris, 
which is most elegantly shaped, of a 
beautiful yellow, and very fragrant, 
and which is occasionally found wild 
in England. T. Sculus solis is an 
Italian species, and T. prcecox, Van 
Thol's Tulip, is a dwarf plant that 
flowers very early in the season, ge- 
nerally in March or April. Besides 



TU LIPA. 



294 



TULIPA. 



these there are twelve other species, 
quite distinct* The garden varieties 
of T. Gesneriana are divided into 
four classes, the first containing the 
Bizarres, which have a yellow ground 
shaded with dark-brownish red or 
purple, and which are subdivided 
into the flaked, in which the dark co- 
lour is in a broad stripe or band, rising 
from the bottom of the petal ; and the 
feathered, in which the dark colour 
forms a marginal edging to the pe- 
tals, descending into them in various 
little delicate feathery veins. The 
second class contains the Byblcemens, 
which are white shaded with violet 
or dark purple, and which are also 
subdivided into flaked and feathered. 
The third class are called Roses, and 
they have white grounds shaded with 
Rose colour or Cherry red, and they 
also are divided into flaked and 
feathered ; and the fourth class are 
the selfs, which are white or yellow 
without any dark colour. Besides 
these there are what are called breed- 
ers, which are of a dingy crimson, 
and which are seedling Tulips before 
they have shown any variety of co- 
lour ; parrot Tulips, which are sup- 
posed to be a variety of T. sylvestris ; 
and double Tulips, which are not 
valued by florists at all. All seed- 
ling Tulips when they first flower, 
are what are called breeders, and of a 
dull uniform colour ; and to make 
them break, that is to produce the 
brilliant and distinct colours which 
constitute the beauty of a florist's 
flower, a variety of expedients are re- 
sorted to. At one time they are 
grown in poor soil and only allowed 
water enough to keep them living ; 
and then they are suddenly trans- 
ported to the richest soil, abounding 
in food and moisture ; and sometimes 
they are sent into the country, 
twenty or thirty miles from the place 
where they were grown, to try the 
effect of change of air. Seedling Tu- 



lips are generally five years before 
they flower. In addition to the 
kinds already enumerated, the French 
have what they eall Baguettes, which 
are very tall-stemmed Tulips, the 
flowers of which are white, striped 
with dark-brownish red ; Baguettes 
Rigauds, which resemble the others, 
but have shorter stems and larger 
flowers ; and Flamands, which have 
a white ground and broad dark red 
stripes. The Dutch have also a kind 
which they call the Incomparable 
Verport, which is white, feathered 
with bright shining brown. All flo- 
rist's Tulips ought to have cup-shaped 
flowers, round at the base ; the 
ground colour inside the flower ought 
to be quite clear and bright in the 
centre ; and all the marks ought to 
appear sharply cut and distinct. 

The culture of the Tulip as a flo- 
rist's flower, requires constant atten- 
tion. A bed about four feet wide, 
and of any convenient length, should 
be dug out to the depth of two feet, 
and a stratum of fresh turfy loam 
should be laid, and on this there 
should be a layer of rotten cowdung, 
and on that a layer of loam mixed 
with an equal quantity of sand. The 
surface of the bed should be slightly 
raised in the middle, and the tallest 
Tulips should be planted along it ; 
the lower-growing ones being ranged 
on each side, so as to make the flow- 
ers form a gentle curve to the sides 
of the bed. The Tulips should be 
seven inches apart every way ; and 
should be planted two or three inches 
deep ; and the bed should be pro- 
tected by half-hoops placed over it at 
regular distances, over which mats 
should be strained ; the covering be- 
ing so contrived as to be removed or 
opened at pleasure. When the Tulips 
are nearly arrived at their full height, 
the hoops and mats should be re- 
moved, and a path being made round 
the bed, a canvas awning, supported 



ULEX. 



295 



ULEX. 



on a wooden frame, should be substi- 
tuted. When the plants have done 
flowering, the leaves should be suf- 
fered to remain on till they turn 
brown, in order that they may assist 
in perfecting the new bulb, which is 
formed every year in lieu of the old 
one, which gradually wastes away. 
When the leaves are withered, the 
bulbs are taken up and laid on shelves 
to dry ; after which the leaves, if any 
remain on, are removed, and the fi- 
brous roots, which will have withered 
up, are rubbed off and the bulbs are 
put into a box, divided into compart- 
ments, so as to keep the named 
sorts apart till the season for replant- 
ing, which is the last week in October 
or the first in November. A fresh 
bed should be made for Tulips every 
year, or the soil of the old bed should 
be changed ; as the exudations from 
Tulips poison the ground for other 
plants of the same kind, though they 
are suitable for other crops. The usual 
rotation in Holland is, Tulips, Poly- 
anthus-narcissus, Crocuses, and Hya- 
cinths. Mr. Groom, of Walworth, is 
the principal Tulip-grower in the 
neighbourhood of London ; and he 
has an exhibition of them every year 
in May. 

Tulip-tree. — See Liriodendron. 

Tuna. — One of the kinds of 
Prickly Pear or Indian Fig. — See 
Opuntia. 

Tupa. — Lobeliaceoe. — The new 



name for the large upright-growing 
kinds of Lobelia, with scarlet flowers. 

Tupelo-tree. — Nyssa sylvatica. 

Turmeric . — Curcuma. — Sci tamu 
neous plants with very showy flowers, 
natives of the East Indies, which re- 
quire a stove in England. They 
should be grown in light rich earth, 
and they are propagated by offsets. 

Turne v ra. — Turneriacece. — Stove 
shrubs and herbaceous plants with 
yellow flowers, some of which bear 
a slight resemblance to those of the 
Thunbergia. They should be grown 
in light rich soil, and they are propa- 
gated by cuttings, or by seeds, which 
they ripen freely. 

Turpentine-tree. — Pistacia te- 
rebinthus. — It must be observed, 
however, that common Turpentine is 
procured from the different trees of 
the Pine and Fir tribe. 

Tussilago. — Composites. — The 
Coltsfoot or Butter bur. Some of the 
species are pretty and worth cultivat- 
ing, particularly T. fragrans. They 
will all grow in a garden soil ; and are 
very troublesome to keep in bounds 
from the immense number of suckers 
that they send up from their roots. 

Tutsan. — See Andros-emum and 
Hypericum. 

Typha. — Typhinece. — Catstail 
Rush. Aquatic plants, suitable for 
growing on the borders of ponds, and 
made pieces of water, to hide the 
boundary. 



u. 



Ulex. — Leguminosce. — The 
Furze. An erect evergreen shrub 
with yellow flowers, which are pro- 
duced nearly all the year. The 
donble-blossomed Furze is very hand- 
some, and makes a beautiful hedge. 
When it is employed for this purpose, 
a bank of earth should be raised three 
or four feet high, and wider at the 
bottom than at the top, and the cut- 



tings should be planted in a drill 
along the ridge. The soil should be 
somewhat sandy, and if there be 
plenty of room the plants should be 
left to nature to hang down loosely 
over the bank, and they should never 
be pruned except to cut out the dead 
wood. U. nana grows generally on 
very poor gravelly soils, and seldom 
exceeds two feet in height ; while U. 



valusne'ria. 



296 



vallisne'ria. 



europcea, the common kind, in fa- 
vourable situations will grow ten feet 
high. U. stricta, the Irish Furze, 
has no spines, and it grows straight 
upright to the height of eight feet or 
ten feet. It requires a moist rich 
soil ; and it is propagated by cuttings 
like the double-blossomed kind, as it 
has never yet been known to ripen 
seeds. All the other kinds are pro- 
pagated by seeds, which they ripen in 
great abundance. 

Ulmus. — Ulmacece. — The Elm . 
The weeping Elm is a very ornamen- 
tal tree for pleasure-grounds. 

Umbilicus. — Crassulacece. — The 
new name for some of the kinds of 
Navelwort. — See Cotyledon. 

Umbrella Tree. — Magnolia tri- 
petala. — See Magnolia. 

Ure v do. — Cryptogamia. — A kind 
of rust often found on the leaves of 
Rose Trees and other plants. — See 
Mildew. 

Urtica. — Urticacece. — The 
Nettle. The Roman Nettle, U. pi- 
lulifera, is sometimes grown in gar- 
dens as an ornamental annual, but 



the sting is much worse than that of 
U. dioica, the common Nettle. 
Some of the exotic species are very 
handsome ; as for example, U. reti- 
culata, a native of Jamaica, which has 
red and yellow flowers and deep green 
leaves. All the Nettles thrive most 
in a deep rich soil. 

Us'nea. — Cryptogamia. — A kind 
of lichen that hangs down like a 
beard from the hranches of old trees, 
particularly Oaks, and has a very pic- 
turesque appearance. 

Uvula x ria. — Melenthacece. — Pe- 
rennial hardy plants with pale yellow 
flowers, natives of North America, 
which should he grown in a compost 
of peat and loam ; a pit about a foot 
square every way, being dug in the 
open border and filled with the com- 
post to plant them in. If the sub- 
soil be not good, the pit may be made 
a little deeper, and a layer of stones 
and brickbats may he put in the bot- 
tom. The plants are propagated by 
suckers, which they produce in great 
abundance. 



V. 



Vacci'nium. — Ericaceae. — The 
Whortle Berry. Dwarf shrubs with 
pretty drooping heath-like flowers, 
and generally showy fruit ; found ge- 
nerally wild on commons in Europe 
and North America. V. myrtillus, 
the common Bilberry, is the com- 
monest species in England, and there 
is a variety with white berries in Ger- 
many. The Cranberry, V. oxycoc- 
cus, Lin., is now called Oxycoccus 
palustris. 

Valerian. — See Valeriana. 

Valeriana. — Valerianece. — Pe- 
rennial plants, mostly natives of Eu- 
rope, which will grow in any com- 
mon soil. The dwarf species are very 
suitable for rockwork. 

Vallisne v ria. - -Hydrocharidece.-- 



"Water-plants, which succeed best in 
a greenhouse, and which should be 
planted in a layer of loam at the bot- 
tom of the cistern in which they are 
to be grown. The male and female 
flowers are on different plants ; and 
the latter rise on long spiral stalks, 
which gradually uncoil above the sur- 
face of the water, while the latter 
are produced at the bottom. Before, 
however, the anthers burst to dis- 
charge the pollen, the male flowers 
detach themselves from their stalks 
and rise up to the surface, on which 
they float like little white bubbles. 
After the pollen has been distributed 
over the stigmas, the male flowers 
wither, and the spiral stalks of the 
females coil up again so as to draw 



VASES. 



297 



VERBENA. 



the seed-vessel under the water, that 
it may ripen at the hottom and burst 
•when just in the proper place to depo- 
sit its seeds. Nothing can be more 
beautiful than the whole arrange- 
ment ; and nothing can show more 
strikingly the admirable manner in 
which the economy of nature is car- 
ried on. 

Valonia OkK.—Quercus JEgilops. 
— The acorns are enveloped in a cu- 
rious leafy cup ; and the tree, which 
is generally of small size, is very 
handsome. — See Quercus. 

Va'nda. — Orchidacece. — A beau- 
tiful epiphyte, which is made the 
type of a section from the great num- 
ber that are nearly allied to it. It 
should be grown on the branch of a 
tree. — See Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Vanilla. — Orchidacece. — A 
creeping parasite, common in tropi- 
cal climates, which throws out roots 
at every joint that penetrate into the 
bark of the trees on which the plant 
grows. When grown in an orchi- 
deous house, these plants are fre- 
quently fixed in a crevice in the 
damp wall, whence they spread out in 
different directions, catching hold of 
every object within their reach. 
When thus treated and kept in a 
strong moist heat, the plants will 
flower; but unless objects are near 
for their roots to attach themselves to, 
the plants will never be strong and 
healthy. The native Vanilla is used 
for putting into chocolate. 

Vasculare* are plants, the leaves 
and stems of which contain spiral 
vessels ; in opposition to Cellulares or 
plants which are composed only of 
cellular tissue. All the flowering 
plants belong to the Vasculares ; but 
the mosses, fungi, and lichens, are 
Cellulares. 

Vases in pleasure-grounds have 
often a very good effect, particularly 
on the terrace of an Italian villa. 
Wherever they are introduced, how- 



ever, they should always stand on a 
plinth, broader than the circular base; 
as nothing can have a more unartisti- 
cal effect than to see a vase resting on 
the bare ground. 

Vf/lla. — Cruciferce. — The 
shrubby Cressrocket. V. pseudo- 
cytisus is one of the few Cruciferous 
shrubs. It is evergreen, and only 
grows two feet or three feet high, 
With glaucous leaves and bright yel- 
low flowers, which appear in April 
and May. It is a native of Spain, 
and it was formerly considered a 
greenhouse plant in England, but it 
is now found to be hardy. It grows 
best in calcareous loam, but it will 
thrive in any garden soil ; and it is 
very suitable for rockwork. It is 
propagated by cuttings of the young 
wood planted in sand under a glass. 

Velonia. — See Velonia. 

Venus's Comb. — Scdndix pecten. 
— A British weed. 

Venus's Fly-trap. — See Dion;e v a, 

Venus's Looking-glass. — See Cam- 
panula. 

Verba'scum. — Solanacece. — The 
Mullein or Flannel plant. Showy 
herbaceous plants, generally with yel- 
low flowers, and most of which are 
natives of Britain. The greater num- 
ber of the species are biennials, and 
require the usual treatment of such 
plants (see Biennials) ; but V.phoe- 
niceum, one of the handsomest spe- 
cies, is a perennial. They will all 
grow in any common garden soil, 
though they prefer one which is some- 
what loamy ; and they are increased 
by seeds or by dividing the root. 

Verbe x na. — Verbenacece. — Only 
a few years ago the Verbenas were 
scarcely known in flower-gardens, ex- 
cept by V. Aubletia, with pinkish 
flowers, and V. Lamberti,vnth. pur- 
ple ones, neither of which possessed 
much beauty. In 1827, the beauti- 
ful Verbena Melindres, or as it is 
sometimes called, V. chamcedrifolia, 



VERBE V NA. 



298 



vibu'rnum. 



was introduced from Buenos Ayres, 
and it directly became a favourite, 
though for some years it was kept 
carefully in the greenhouse, and con- 
sidered difficult to manage. Since 
that time, however, numerous other 
species have been introduced, and as 
they are found to hybridize freely, 
innumerable hybrids and varieties 
have been raised. They are all found 
to root freely from layers, and to 
strike as freely from cuttings, and to 
thrive during summer in the open air. 
They have thus become general 
everywhere ; and it is now rare to 
see a garden or a balcony without 
them. The kinds principally culti- 
vated are the following : V. Melin- 
dres, the common scarlet Verbena, 
the colour of which is the most bril- 
liant scarlet. It is, however, the 
most tender kind of Verbena, and 
when planted in the open air it is 
generally killed by the first frost if 
not protected. It is a prostrate plant, 
and should be pegged down over the 
bed it is intended to cover, when it 
will throw out roots at every joint. 
Its varieties, V. M. latifolia, and 
V. M. splendens, which are probably 
hybrids between V.Melindres and V. 
Tweediana, are much more hardy 
than the species, and they are natu- 
rally more upright-growing, though 
when pegged down they throw out 
roots at every joint in the same man- 
ner. V. Tweediana is an upright- 
growing plant with crimson flowers, 
and it is very hardy ; V. incisa is 
also hardy and upright-growing, but 
its flowers are of a pale pink and have 
a faded look. V. Arraniana has an 
upright habit of growth and purplish 
crimson u flowers ; but it is very ten- 
der, and very apt to be attacked by 
aphides. V. Aubletia and V. Lam- 
berti are prostrate species and very 
hardy ; V. Sabinii, another prostrate 
species, has lilac flowers, and it has a 
variety with white ones. V. pul- 



chella is also prostrate, and so is V. 
sulphured, the flowers of which are 
yellow. V. Neilii, V. teucroides, 
and V. venosa, are upright-growing. 
The first has lilac flowers, the second 
white ones, and the last purple ; the 
last two are of a very coarse habit of 
growth. The Lemon-scented plant, 
Verbena triphylla, is now called 
Aloysia citriodora. (See Aloysia.) 
All the Verbenas will grow in any 
light soil, but they thrive best in 
sandy peat or heath-mould. 

Vero'nica, — Scrophularinece. — 
Speedwell. Very pretty perennial 
and annual plants, generally with blue 
flowers, natives of Europe, and many 
of them found wild in Britain. They 
are all of the easiest culture, as 
they will grow well in any common 
garden-soil that is tolerably light, and 
at the same time moist ; and they 
are propagated by seeds and division 
of the root. Many of the kinds are 
very suitable for rock work. 

Vervain. — See Verbena. 

Vesica^ria . — Cruci ferce. — Herba- 
ceous plants, mostly with yellow 
flowers, natives of Europe and Ame- 
rica, that should be grown in sandy 
loam, and which are propagated by 
seeds or division of the root. 

Vetch. — See Vicia. 

Vibu'rnum. — Caprifoliacea. — 
The Viburnum. Ornamental shrubs, 
generally with terminal corymbs of 
white flowers. One of the best known 
of these, the Laurestinus, V. Tinus, 
is an evergreen bush, with white 
flowers that are rose-coloured in the 
bud, and dark-blue berries, which is 
very valuable in town-gardens, as it 
flowers from December till March. 
It is a native of the south of Europe 
and the north of Africa. There is a 
variety with shining leaves and larger 
cymes of flowers, but it is rather 
more tender than the common kind. 
When the Laurestinus is grown near 
a dwelling-house, care should be 



VI'CIA. 



299 



VINE. 



taken in spring, when the leaves I 
drop, to have them swept away every 
day, as they have an extremely dis- 
agreeable smell when they are decay- 
ing, and are said to he very unwhole- 
some. The tree Viburnum (V. 
Lantago) is a native of North Ame- 
rica, and it forms a very hardy and 
handsome low tree in British gardens. 
It is also valuable for 'the great 
abundance of its berries, which are a 
favourite food with birds. The Way- 
faring Tree, or Wild Guelder Rose 
(V. Lantana), is another interesting 
small tree ; and V. cotinifblium is a 
beautiful species from Nepaul. The 
most interesting kind of Viburnum 
grown in small gardens is, however, 
the Guelder Rose, or Snowball Tree, 
V. Opulus. This is a deciduous 
shrub, a native of Europe and part of 
Asia, which is always found in a wild 
state in swampy thickets. In a wild 
state its principal beauty lies in its 
bright red berries ; but in a state of 
cultivation its heads of flowers be- 
come so compact, of such a snowy 
whiteness, as amply to justify its 
popular name of the Snowball Tree. 
All the Viburnums are hardy in 
British gardens ; and they will all 
grow freely in any common soil. 
They are generally propagated by 
layers, but cuttings will strike freely 
if kept moist, and in a shady situation. 
When transplanted the evergreen 
species should be removed in October 
or November, as they have few fibrous 
roots, and are very apt to be killed by 
a continuance of dry weather if they 
are transplanted in spring. 

Yi , ciA..~LeguminoscB.-- The Vetch. 
The ornamental species are generally 
pretty climbing plants, with purplish 
flowers, natives of Europe. Some of 
the kinds, however, have white, some 
pink, others blue, and others pale 
yellow flowers. All the kinds grow 
freely in any garden soil, though 
they thrive most when the soil is 



deep and sandy ; and they are propa- 
gated by seeds or divisions of the 
roots. 

Vieusseu x xia. — Iridece. — The 
Peacock Iris. These beautiful 
flowers are better known under their 
old names of Iris Pavonia and 
Morce^a, than under their present 
almost unpronounceable appellation. 
They are very nearly hardy, and may 
be grown in the open border, if 
treated as directed for Ixia (p. 1 55) ; 
but as the bulbs are very small and 
delicate, it is, perhaps, safer to grow 
them in pots, in equal parts of peat, 
vegetable-mould, and sand, and to 
keep tbem dry, or take them out of 
the pots when tbey have done flower- 
ing till the planting or growing sea- 
son returns the following year. 

Vi'nca. — Apocynece. — The Peri- 
winkle. There are two species com- 
mon in British gardens, both of which 
are creeping or trailing evergreen 
shrubs, which will grow freely under 
the shade of trees. They both prefer 
a soft, moist soil, which they can 
easily penetrate with their long creep- 
ing roots. V. major is the common 
species, and V. minor only differs in 
the flowers being smaller, and the 
whole plant more delicate. The 
Periwinkle is generally propagated by 
its runners, which strike root from 
every joint, like those of the straw- 
berry, and which only want dividing 
from the parent to become plants. 
When it is wished to make the Peri- 
winkle produce seeds, the plant should 
be grown in a pot, and all the lateral 
shoots cut off. 

Vine. — The common Vine (Vitis 
vinifera) may often be introduced 
with very good effect in ornamental 
garden scenery, for covering a bower 
or verandah, or training round the 
window of a breakfast room. Nothing 
can, indeed, be more beautiful than a 
vine in the last-mentioned situation, 
forming a framework, as it were, to 



VIOLET. 



300 



VIOLET. 



the garden beyond ; and with its 
beautiful leaves looking almost. trans- 
parent in the morning sun. A Vine 
also looks very well when suffered to 
grow naturally among the tall trees of 
a lawn or shrubbery, as it hangs itself 
from branch to branch in a manner 
more graceful than any art can hope 
to imitate. A Vine thus treated 
would have a very good effect in the 
grounds of an Italian villa. The 
three American species, V. labrusca, 
or the Wild Vine, V. vulpina, or 
the Fox Grape, and V. riparia, or 
the Sweet-scented Vine, the flowers 
of which smell like Mignionette, are 
all very suitable for growing in the 
open air, from their extreme hardi- 
ness. All Vines like a very rich and 
somewhat moist soil, and thrive best 
when their roots can get access to a 
drain, sewer, or muddy pond. 

Vi*ola. — Violacece. — Beautiful 
perennial dwarf plants, natives of 
Europe and North America, and 
growing generally in moist shady 
banks in woods. There are nearly 
150 kinds grown in British gardens, 
but the most common are V. odorata 
(see Violet), and V. tricolor (see 
Heart's-ease). The shrubby or 
Tree Violet ( V. palmaensis), a 
native of one of the Canary Isles, 
is a very handsome plant, growing 
about two feet high, with a shrubby 
stem, and large purplish-blue flowers; 
it is usually kept in a greenhouse in 
England, where it flowers from May 
to July. The Fan-leaved Violet 
(V. flabellata), and the Hollow- 
leaved Violet (V. cucullata), are 
both American species, with large and 
handsome flowers. All the species 
should be grown in peat and loam 
kept moist, and they* all thrive best 
In a shady situation. 

Violet. — The common sweet- 
scented Violet (V. odorata) is a 
British plant which grows in woods 
or on and under banks. The white 



Violets are found generally in cal- 
careous soils ; and the sweetest lever 
smelt, were, I think, those I have 
gathered growing among the limestone 
rocks in the woods of Dudley Castle. 
In garden culture, however, what are 
called the Neapolitan and Russian 
Violets are the most useful, as they 
flower during the winter months ; 
and of these the Neapolitan are the 
sweetest. These delightful Violets, 
which flower from October to April 
or May, should be grown in pots or 
boxes, where they can be covered 
with a hand-glass, in case of severe 
frost. They should be propagated by 
cuttings taken off in May, and struck 
in sand under a glass ; when the 
young plants have taken root they 
should be transplanted into other 
pots filled with light rich soil ; and 
finally, in August, they should be 
removed to the pots or boxes in 
which they are to flower. These 
pots or boxes should be well drained 
by having a layer of potsherds at 
the bottom of considerable thickness ; 
and they should be filled up with a 
compost made of two-fourths of ve- 
getable-mould, one of loam, and one 
of silver-sand. They should be 
covered with a hand-glass during 
heavy rains, or in frosty weather ; 
and if the frost is very severe a mat 
should be put over the glass. When 
the pots or boxes are introduced into 
a sitting-room, they should be 
watered twice a day, but once will be 
sufficient if the plants are grown in 
the open air. It must be observed 
that plants in a sitting-room, where a 
constant fire is kept, are generally in ' 
an equal degree of heat to a hot- 
house at 65° ; only the air of the 
living-room is much drier than that 
of the stove, and to counteract this, 
additional watering is required. The 
common Violets only require planting 
on a sloping bank in a shady place, 
in a peaty soil, where they will hav e 



Vl'SCTJM. 



301 



volkame'ria. 



moisture, but where their roots will 
not be exposed to the effects of stag- 
nant water. 

Viper's Bugloss — See Echium. 

Viper's Grass — See Scorzonera. 

Virgi'lia — Leguminosa. A very 
handsome low tree, a native of North 
America, with drooping racemes of 
white flowers, resembling in form 
those of the laburnum. It grows freely 
in any sandy soil. 

Virginian Creeper — See A mpe- 
lopsis. 

Virginian Poke — See Phylo- 
lacca. 

Virgin's Bower — See Clematis. 

Vi'scum — Loranthacece. — The 
Misletoe. This curious parasite can 
hardly be called ornamental, though 
it may be sometimes introduced with 
effect, to give an air of antiquity to 
newly planted pleasure-grounds. It 
grows best on old cankered apple-trees, 
but it may be made to take root on 
even a young tree, by slightly wound- 
ing the bark and inserting a ripe seed. 
It must be observed, however, that as 
the male and female flowers of the 
misletoe are on separate plants, the 
berries are not always fertile. It is a 
vulgar error to suppose that the 
misletoe grows generally on the oak, 
as it is extremely rare on that tree 
in England ; it is found most com- 
monly on the apple, and next on the 
hawthorn ; it is also found on the 
lime, the sycamore, the willow, the 
poplar, and the ash, occasionally on 
the cherry, and sometimes, though 
rarely, on pines and firs. When the 
seeds begin to grow, they send out 
first one or two roots, which ascend 
for a short time, and then turn back 
to the bark, on which they fix them- 
selves, like the sucker of an insect. 
The other end afterwards detaches 



itself from the tree, and becomes 
leaves and shoots. The roots of the 
misletoe descend between the bark 
and the young wood, and no intimate 
union takes place between the old 
wood of the parasite and its supporter. 
This is plainly shown in a piece of an 
old thorn, given to me by H. Long, 
Esq., of Farnham Lodge, to which a 
misletoe of very large dimensions was 
attached. The wood of the misletoe 
is of a very fine pale yellowish tinge, 
and it is as hard and of as fine a 
grain as box, which it greatly resem- 
bles, while that of the thorn is dark 
brown. 

Vi^tex — VerbenacecB. The chaste 
tree. The principal species are V. 
Agnus-castus, which is a dwarf 
shrub, with whitish flowers, which 
will grow in any common soil, and will 
generally stand out in British gardens, 
though it is sometimes killed by a 
severe winter ; and V. incisa, which 
has pretty palmate leaves and purple 
flowers, but it is so long before it puts 
out its leaves in spring, and looks so 
much as though it were dead before 
its leaves expand, that it is often 
thrown aside as worthless, when it is 
in perfect vigour ; it is generally kept 
in a greenhouse, and grows in peat 
and loam. Besides these, there are 
several hothouse species, natives of 
the East Indies, which are not worth 
cultivating. 

Vi x tis — AmpelidecB — See Vine. 

Volkame x ria — VerbenacecB. — 
Nearly all the plants formerly in- 
cluded in this genus have been re- 
moved to Clerodendrum ; and it 
now contains only two species ; one a 
stove shrub with white flowers, from 
the West Indies ; and the other a half- 
hardy tree with purple flowers from 
Nepaul. 



WALKS. 



302 



WALKS. 



w. 



Wachendo'rfia — HtBmodoracece. 
— Bulbous and tuberous-rooted 
plants with large panicles of very 
showy flowers, which are generally 
yellow. These plants have rhizomas 
or under-ground stems, in the scales 
of which, in some of the species, 
little bulbs form, which, if removed 
and planted, become distinct plants. 
These are the bulbous kinds. The 
others have the same kind of rliizoma 
or fleshy under-ground stem, but no 
bulbs form in it. All the kinds are 
nearly hardy ; and they will thrive in 
the open ground, provided the situa- 
tion be tolerably dry, without its 
being necessary to take up their roots 
during winter. 

Wahlenbe'rgia — Campanulacece. 
Perennial and annual plants, formerly 
considered as belonging to Campanula, 
and of which Campanula grindi- 
fiora is the type. They should all 
be grown in sandy loam, and they are 
propagated by seeds, and division of 
the roots. 

Walks may be considered with 
reference to their direction, their 
construction, and their management. 
In a small garden, the direction of 
the main walks should generally be 
governed by the boundary lines ; and 
hence, in a plot of ground which is 
square or oblong, the walks should be 
straight and rectangular : the object, 
in such a case, being to produce the 
beauties of regularity and symmetry. 
On the other hand, when the boun- 
daries of a garden are irregular, the 
surrounding walk may be irregular 
also ; the object in this irregularity 
being to create variety by contrast in 
the direction. When a garden 
bounded by straight lines, is so large 



may be varied in direction ; the boun- 
dary being concealed by trees and 
shrubs, or by artificial undulations of 
the soil. In general, it may be laid 
down as a principle, that all walks 
should be straight when there is no 
obvious reason why they should be 
otherwise ; and hence, in the case of 
all winding walks, if there is not a 
natural and apparently unavoidable 
reason for their deviating from the 
straight line, an artificial reason ought 
to be created. This may always be 
done even on a flat surface by the 
position of trees and shrubs, or when 
there is the slightest inclination to 
inequality of surface, the same suffi- 
cient reason may be created by height- 
ening these inequalities. When a 
winding walk bends to the right, the 
trees and shrubs ought to be chiefly 
conspicuous on the left side, and the 
contrary ; and the same rule is appli- 
cable to the natural or artificial in- 
equalities. When a walk ,is made 
perfectly straight, the surface of the 
ground ought to be perfectly even for 
some feet in width on each side of the 
walk, excepting in some few cases, 
such as a straight terrace walk along 
a regular uniform slope, in which 
case the ground on one side of the 
walk will rise regularly, and on the 
other side will fall regularly. All 
straight walks should lead to some 
conspicuous object at the farther end 
of the walk, and facing it, so as to 
appear to belong to it ; and this object 
should be seen the moment the walk 
is entered upon. Hence, every straight 
walk should have an object at each 
end, such as a seat, an alcove, an 
archway, a gate, a door, a statue, a 
fountain, &c. A winding walk, on 
the contrary, requires no object at 
whole of tbe interior is to be laid out } the farther end to allure the spectator ; 
as pleasure-ground, then the walks I because every turn has the effect of 



WALKS. 



303 



WALKS. 



an object by exciting his curiosity and 
inducing him to advance to see what 
is beyond. Where one walk abuts 
upon or joins another at a nearly 
right angle, it becomes subject to the 
same laws as a straight walk, and op- 
posite to the abutting point or place of 
junction there ought to be a seat, a 
statue, or some other object, partly to 
form a termination to the abutting or 
joining walk, and partly to serve as an 
obvious reason why the one walk 
joins to the other at that point rather 
than elsewhere. At the same time, 
other reasons for the junction at that 
point may exist or may be created ; 
for example, the surface of the 
ground may be favourable, or trees 
and shrubs may be planted so as to 
render it apparently impossible to 
join anywhere else. It has been 
said, that in laying out winding walks, 
nature should be imitated, and the 
tracks of sheep in pastures, or of wild 
animals on commons have been held 
up as examples : — 

" The milkmaid's careless step 

Has, thro' yon pasture green, from stile 
to stile, 

Imprest a kindred curve ; the scudding 
hare 

Draws to her dew-sprent seat, o'er tbymy 
heaths, 

A path as gently waving." 

But to imitate such walks would 
be to copy vulgar nature ; and there- 
fore art refines on these lines by ren- 
dering them more definite and elegant. 
In short, by exhibiting in them a 
choice of form or line for its own 
sake ; because of the various lines or 
parts of lines found in accidental 
footpaths, or in the tracks of hares, 
some must be more agreeable to the 
eye than others, and it is only these 
agreeable parts which are to be imi- 
tated, and combined in garden scenery. 
All this is founded on the recognition 
of a principle, which is, or ought to 
be, the foundation of all the fine arts ; 



viz., that nature is to be imitated, not 
to be copied . To copy nature exactly 
as she appears before us is the pro- 
vince of common art, and may be 
pleasing to many minds; but to minds 
of culture and refinement, nature re- 
quires to be copied in such a manner 
or in such a medium as to show art. 
If this were not the case, and if we 
were to copy foot-paths exactly, then 
we should, of course, not gravel them, 
or define them by regular edges. 
Hence, when one walk joins another, 
the angles of junction should never 
be rounded off in that extreme de- 
gree which is found in public roads ; 
where in turning out of one path into 
another, an obtuse or rounded angle 
seldom fails to be found. The ap- 
pearance of such an angle in garden 
scenery, whether in carriage-roads or 
foot-walks, destroys all allusion to 
high art ; and hence, in all gardens 
containing winding walks which are 
much frequented, the junctions of 
these walks with others should be 
protected by trees and shrubs, or by 
vases or other architectural objects, 
in such a manner as to render this 
rounding of the angles of junction 
impossible. 

The construction of walks, more 
especially on soils which are not na- 
turally dry, and on surfaces which are 
not level or nearly so, requires con- 
siderable skill. The inclination of 
the walk from one point to another 
should be so arranged as to carry off 
the surface water from rain or melting 
snows along the edges of the walks, 
and the underground water by drains 
beneath the surface. In even sur- 
faces, even though not level, this is 
attended with little difficulty ; and 
one drain under the centre of the 
walk, or on one side of it, will suffice, 
for a considerable length, without any 
branch drains to carry off the water 
which accumulates ; but where the 
surface rises and falls alternately, it 



WALKS. 



304 



WALKS. 



is not only necessary to have a drain 
under the walk throughout its whole 
length, hut a branch drain to some 
natural outlet is essential at every 
change of surface. These drains are 
not only intended to carry off the 
underground water, hut also that 
which collects on the surface, and 
finds its way to the sides; and for 
this purpose there are small cross 
drains formed at certain distances, 
which communicate from the sides to 
the centre, and these side drains com- 
municate with the surface by a small 
upright tube or well, covered by an 
iron grating or by a flag-stone pierced 
with holes to admit the water. Some- 
times the main drain, instead of being 
formed under the centre of the walk, 
is made at one side, and sometimes in 
the case of walks through a lawn the 
drain is made under the turf ; but in 
this case, as in the other, the small 
cross-drains communicate with it, 
and are furnished with gratings on a 
level with the surface of the sides of 
the walk. In general, these gratings 
are placed close to the edge of the 
walk, more especially when it passes 
through dug ground edged with box, 
or where there is little ground to 
spare ; but when it passes through a 
lawn, the gratings are best placed in 
small recesses in the turf at the sides. 
In the case of dry soils with a porous 
subsoil of gravel, sand, or rock, drains 
may be dispensed with altogether ; 
and in those parts of the country 
where the kind of gravel used does 
not hind so as to form a sufficiently 
smooth and compact surface to prevent 
the water from sinking into it, the 
side gratings may be dispensed with. 
In walks on very uneven surfaces, such 
as where they are conducted up and 
down declivities, considerable care in 
the construction is required, in order 
to prevent the gravel from being 
washed away during heavy rains, or 
the thawing of snow. Two things are 



requisite for this purpose; very com- 
plete drainage, with gratings on both 
sides, not more than two or three 
yards apart ; and having the surface 
of the walk raised much higher in the 
middle than usual, so as to throw the 
water immediately to the sides, and 
never to admit of a current in the 
direction of the walk. The next re- 
quisite is a much coarser gravel than 
usual, in consequence of which the 
water of rain or snow cannot wash 
away the sandy particles. The most 
effective mode, however, is to wash 
the gravel quite clean, so as to leave 
no particle smaller than a large goose- 
berry, or larger than a small apple, and 
to mix the whole with Roman cement. 
Were it not for the disagreeable dark 
colour of asphalte, walks on steep de- 
clivities laid with this material would 
be preferable to any others, as being 
by far the most durable. 

In the operation of forming walks, 
the first step, after the line has been 
marked out, is to take the levels of 
the surface, so as to determine the 
degree of inclination necessary for 
carrying off the water, and also what 
quantity of soil will have to be re- 
moved on each side of the walk, so as 
to reduce the whole to a uniform 
surface. The next step is to mark 
out the width of the walk, after which 
the soil is to be excavated. The 
depth of the excavation will depend 
on the nature of the subsoil. If that is 
dry and absorbent, such as gravel or 
rock, then the depth need not be 
more than a foot or eighteen inches ; 
but if the subsoil is retentive, such as 
clay or loam, then the depth, at least 
in the centre of the walk, should be 
between eighteen inches and two feet, 
and it should be at least one foot in 
depth at the sides. The drain may 
be made in the centre, that being the 
deepest part ; and this being done, the 
excavation is to be filled up to within 
nine inches of the surface with small 



WALLFLOWER. 



305 



WALLFLOWER. 



stones, broken brickbats, and such 
like materials, which are to be ■well 
beaten down with a rammer. On this 
surface a layer, three inches in thick- 
ness, of coarse gravel should be laid, 
and also well rammed down, and the 
remaining six inches should be filled 
in with the best gravel, which should 
not be rammed, but rolled after being 
raked to an even surface. If the walk 
is to be edged wth box, that should 
be planted immediately before laying 
on the three-inch stratum of coarse 
gravel ; but if it is to be edged with 
turf, the most convenient time for 
laying it down is before putting on the 
upper stratum of six inches. — See 
Buxus and Edgings. 

The management of walks consists 
in keeping them clean by the removal 
of all extraneous matters from their 
surface, including weeds ; and in pre- 
venting worms from working in them, 
and throwing up casts. Leaves and 
other extraneous matters are removed 
by sweeping ; but weeds must be hoed 
or pulled up, or destroyed by water- 
ing the walks with salt water, which 
will also effectually destroy the worms. 
Every time a walk is hoed, it ought 
to be raked and rolled ; and to pre- 
serve the surface quite smooth and 
firm, it ought always to be rolled as 
soon after rainy weather as the sur- 
face has become quite dry. To re- 
new the surface of walks, they may be 
turned over once a year in spring ; 
but this is only advisable in the case 
of fine coloured gravels, such as that 
of Kensington, in order to present a 
fresh surface ; for, with reference to 
the smoothness, firmness, and easy 
keeping of the walk, turning over the 
gravel is injurious rather than other- 
wise. — See Gravel. 

Wall Cress. — See Arabis. 

Wallflower. — Common as this 
flower is, it well deserves great pains 
to be taken in its cultivation ; as its 
principal beauty is displayed at a 



season when there are few hardy 
plants in flower : the Crocuses, Hya- 
cinths, and Narcissi, are just over, 
or beginning to decay, and the an- 
nuals have not yet begun to expand 
their blossoms. In April and May 
the brilliant yellow and dark orange 
of the Wallflowers give a peculiar 
brilliancy and liveliness to gardens, 
which without them would present a 
naked and dull appearance. The 
common Wallflower (Cheiranthus 
Cheri) is generally called a biennial, 
and it does not flower till the second 
year after sowing. It will, however, 
frequently live three or four years in 
favourable situations. There are ten 
or twelve varieties ; some of a rich 
dark reddish brown, called the 
Bloody Wallflowers, and others of a 
light yellow, with nearly all the in- 
termediate shades. The dark and 
double-flowered kinds should be grown 
in very rich soil, but not freshly 
manured. The remains of Celery 
trenches used the previous year, or 
part of the ground under an old hot- 
bed, will suit these flowers exceed- 
ingly well ; taking care to mix a little 
sand with the soil, if it be at all 
loamy, in order to lighten it. As 
the varieties can never be depended 
upon for coming true from seed, the 
best way to preserve any that are 
very rich in colour, or very double, 
is to make cuttings of them in May. 
These cuttings should be from shoots 
of the current year, and they should 
be about three inches long. They 
should be cut off carefully, and the 
end should be cut smooth at a joint 
with a sharp knife. The leaves 
should then be cut off close to the 
stem, for about half the length of the 
cuttings; and they should be put into 
pots filled with sandy loam and vege- 
table mould, about four inches apart, 
and three in a pot. They should be 
sprinkled with water three times a- 
day till they have taken root, which 
x 



WALLS. 



306 



WALLS. 



will be known by their beginning to 
grow. In many cases, the cuttings 
are merely put into the open garden ; 
choosing a shady place, and mixing a 
little sand with the mould, when the 
ground is dug over before planting 
them. C. mutdbilis is a half-shrubby 
evergreen, with dark purple, yellow, 
and lilac flowers, and it requires a 
light rich soil. C. alplnus is a dwarf 
plant, with small yellow flowers, and 
is well adapted for rock work. The 
stocks which were formerly considered 
to belong to this genus, are now re- 
moved to Mathiola. Both Stocks 
and Wallflowers are frequently called 
Gillifiowers, a corruption of July 
flowers, as the Stocks flower about 
that month. 

Walls for gardens are either used as 
boundary fences, and at the same time 
for the purpose of training plants on, 
or they are erected in gardens for the 
latter purpose only. They may be 
formed of different materials accord- 
ing to those that are most abundant 
in any given locality ; but the best of 
all walls for garden purposes are those 
which are built of brick. Stone walls 
are durable and good ; but the stones 
being much larger than bricks, the 
joints between them are too far apart 
for the purpose of neat training. Mud 
or earth walls when properly built 
with a coping sufficient to throw off 
the rain on every side, are dry, warm, 
and very congenial to plants, but from 
the fragile nature of the mud, they 
are not well adapted for training on. 
These two last kind of walls should, 
therefore, be covered with wire or 
wooden trellis-work, to which the 
plants may be tied. Walls made of 
boards are very good where they are 
not required to be high ; and where 
the boards are soaked with tar, or 
coated over with pitch, and placed on 
a footing of brickwork, stone, or oak- 
plank, they will last many years. 
Shelters, as substitutes for walls, are 



formed of panels of reeds covered 
with trellis-work ; or sometimes in 
Russia with wicker-work, the inter- 
stices beiug caulked with moss ; and 
both these kinds of substitutes for 
walls last a number of years when 
protected from perpendicular rains by 
copings which project at least a foot 
on every side, and when placed on 
footings which secure them from the 
damp of the soil. Walls have also 
been formed for training on, by in- 
serting large slates or thin flag-stones, 
such as the Caithness pavement, either 
in the soil (in which case the walls 
are not above four or five feet in 
height), or in frames of timber or 
iron, in which case they may be of 
any height required. Such walls are 
always covered with trellis-work to 
which the trees or plants are attached. 
The most generally applicable kind 
of walls, however, and those which 
are by far the best for garden pur- 
poses, are, as before observed, those 
formed of brick. When the wall is 
not intended to be more than four or 
five feet in height, it need not exceed 
nine inches in thickness ; and the 
thickness of fourteen inches will ad- 
mit of ten feet in height ; the wall in 
both cases being built without piers 
which are great impediments to good 
training. With piers the height with 
any given thickness may be increased 
one-fourth. In no case, however, 
ought garden -walls, or indeed division 
or fence-walls of any kind which have 
not a load to support perpendicularly, 
or a pressure to resist on one side, to 
be built with piers. The same object 
may always be obtained by building 
the walls hollow ; each side being of 
the thickness of four inches, and the 
two sides being joined together by 
cross partitions of four-inch work. 
An excellent garden-wall may thus 
be raised to the height of twelve or 
fourteen feet, with the same quantity 
of bricks that would raise a nine-inch 



WALLS. 



307 



WATER. 



wall to that height, with the addition 
only of the bricks necessary to form 
cross partitions at every three or four 
feet. The width of the wall may 
either be fourteen or eighteen inches, 
the vacuity in the former case being 
five inches, and in the latter nine 
inches. Where it is desired to save 
the expense of a coping, the sides of 
the wall may be gradually contracted 
towards the top, so as to finish with 
a coping of bricks set on edge cross- 
wise ; but no wall intended for fruit- 
trees or for tender-flowering shrubs 
should ever be built without a pro- 
tecting coping, because the rains run 
down the face of the wall and render 
it moist and cold at those seasons 
when dryness and heat are most 
wanting, viz., iu spring, when the 
buds are bursting, and in autumn 
when the young wood is ripening. 
The same moisture, and its alterna- 
tion with dryness, rots the mortar in 
the joints of the bricks, and greatly 
injures and disfigures the face of the 
wall. When, therefore, walls are 
built without projecting copings, the 
exterior joints ought invariably to be 
pointed with stucco, as in France and 
Italy, or with Roman cement. Walls 
of nine inches in thickness, and even 
four-inch walls, if built in a winding 
or zigzag direction, may be carried to 
a considerable height without either 
having piers or being built hollow ; 
and such walls answer perfectly for 
the interior of gardens. Hollow walls 
of every description may also be built 
at less expense by placing the bricks on 
edge instead of being laid flat ; and not 
only garden walls but those of cot- 
tages and farm-buildings may be con- 
structed in this manner. Lengthened 
details on this subject will be found 
in Mr. Loudon's Encyclopedia of 
Cottage Architecture, and in his 
Suburban Gardener. 

For further particulars respecting 



the use of walls in ornamental gar- 
dens, see Conservative Wall. 

Warratah.— See Telo'pea.— There 
is also a Warratah Camilla ; so called 
because its bright crimson colour re- 
sembles that of the true Warratah 
plant or Teldpea of Botany Bay. 

Water in gardening may be con- 
sidered with reference to its use in 
•vegetable culture, and to its effect in 
landscape. When water is too abun- 
dant in any soil, it is to be removed 
by surface or underground draining ; 
and the rain, or thawing snow which 
produces water on the surface, is to be 
conveyed away by similar means. See 
Walks. Water as an element of 
culture is next in importance to soil, 
for plants can no more subsist without 
the one than without the other. All 
plants in a highly artificial state even 
in a moist climate like that of Britaiu 
require water occasionally ; for extra- 
ordinary excitement by means of 
soil, or manure, or artificial tempe- 
rature, will be ineffective unless 
seconded by water. For all ordinary 
purposes, it is sufficient to pour the 
water on the surface of the ground, 
but if the operation of watering were 
carried to the full extent of which it 
is susceptible, it would be supplied 
subterraneously by underground drains 
as is sometimes done in fen lands, and 
not unfrequently in reclaimed bogs, 
both in Great Britain and Ireland. 
Where the soil of a garden is to be 
made the most of, there should be a 
substratum of gravel or small stones, 
with drains or small tunnels, or per- 
forated tubes of earthenware at regu- 
lar distances, communicating with a 
supply of water a few feet above the 
surface of the soil, by which water 
might be admitted at pleasure, so as 
to irrigate the whole of the under- 
strata, and to supply moisture to the 
roots of the plants altogether inde- 
pendently of what thev might receive 
x 2 



WATER. 



308 



WATER. 



either artificially or naturally from 
the surface. This would he of great 
advantage in dry soils, not only to 
crops of herbaceous vegetables, and to 
the plants of flower-gardens, but to 
fruit-trees, forest trees, and useful 
or ornamental shrubs. It would be 
more especially useful in the case 
of orchards to set the blossoms in 
spring, and to swell off the fruit in 
autumn. It would produce astonish- 
ing effects in the case of fruit-trees 
planted against walls, and on vines 
planted in prepared borders, and on 
peach-trees in a state of forcing. The 
only objection to this mode of apply- 
ing water is the expense. 

Water considered with reference to 
its quality, should be without the ad- 
mixture of extraneous mineral sub- 
stances, such as acids or alkalies ; and 
it should be of the same temperature 
as the soil, or higher rather than 
lower. In order that it should be of 
the same temperature as the soil, it is 
necessary to expose it to the action 
of the atmosphere in ponds or basins 
before using, and even when taking the 
water from such ponds or basins, the 
surface stratum of the water ought 
always to be taken by dipping in the 
watering-pot in such a manner as that 
only the surface of the water should 
run into it. In the application of 
water to plants, the most general mode 
is to pour it at their roots; but in 
doing this it is not necessary that the 
water should touch the stems or the 
collar of the plant. On the contrary 
the stems of tender plants, and even the 
soil for an inch or two all round them, 
is better kept dry ; because the mois- 
ture on the collar is apt to create de- 
cay. The fibres which absorb the 
moisture and convey it to the leaves 
of the plants, are always extended to 
some distance from the stem ; and 
hence it follows that a plant may be 
moistened immediately round the stem 



j without rendering it any service, but, 
on the contrary, incurring the risk of 
rotting it ; while if watered at some 
distance from the stem, it may be 
nourished in reality, and yet have the 
appearance of being starved for want of 
moisture. 

For certain kinds of plants, such 
as the Hydrangea and the Balsam, 
Coxcombs, Chrysanthemums, and 
others which are of vigorous growth, 
water may be mixed with manure ; 
such as concentrated stable-dung, 
recent sheep's-dung, or any other de- 
scription of animal manure which is 
soluble in water. For some plants, 
such as heaths and most of the hair- 
rooted shrubs and herbs, this liquid 
manure is found to be injurious ; but 
for many others, applied when they 
are in a growing state, it is found 
greatly to increase their vigour. 

Water as an element of landscape 
scenery, is exhibited in small gardens 
either in ponds or basins, of regular, 
geometrical, or architectural forms ; 
or in ponds or small lakes of irregu- 
lar forms in imitation of the shapes 
seen in natural landscape. In general 
all geometrical or architectural basins 
of water ought to have the margins of 
masonry, or at least of stones placed 
so as to imitate a rocky margin. The 
reason is, that by these means the 
artificial character is heightened, and 
also a colour is introduced between the 
surrounding grass, vegetation, gravel, 
or dug-ground, which harmonises the 
water with the land. Artificial shapes 
of this kind should never be of great 
diameter, because in that case the ar- 
tificial character is comparatively lost, 
and the idea of nature occurs to the 
spectator. When round or square, 
they should not be of greater diame- 
ter than the house or building to 
which they belong ; but a better ef- 
fect will be produced by their being 
smaller, as is shown in the architec- 



WATER. 



309 



WATER. 



tural basins of Italy, and the tanks of 
Persia and India. When of oblong 
forms they may be of any length, 
provided they are never of any great 
breadth ; because in this case they 
never can be seen in such a manner 
as to obliterate the idea of high art, 
the stone margins being always in 
part, at least, near the eye. 

Water in imitation of nature should 
be in ponds or basins of irregular shape ; 
but always so contrived as to display 
one main feature or breadth of water. 
A pond, however large it may be, if 
equally broken throughout by islands, 
or by projections from the shores, 
can have no pictorial beauty ; be- 
cause it is without effect and does not 
form a whole. The general extent 
and outline of a piece of water being 
fixed on, the interior of the pond or 
lake is to be treated entirely as a 
lawn. If small, it will require no 
islands ; but if so large as to require 
some, they must be distributed 
towards the sides, so as to vary the 
outline and to harmonise the pond 
with the surrounding scenery, and 
yet to preserve one broad expanse of 
water ; exactly in the same manner 
as in varying a lawn with shrubs and 
flowers, landscape gardeners preserve 
one broad expanse of turf. The mar- 
gin of pieces of water in imitation of 
nature, should be a refined imitation 
of what is seen in natural lakes. The 
turf should never exactly touch the 
water, because the green of the one 
and the blue of the other do not har- 
monise. In nature, the harmony is 
provided for by the water sinking 
lower at one time than it does at 
others ; which leaves a dark line of 
soil even in the most unfavourable 
cases, and a narrow line of bright 
gravel or sand in cases best deserving 
imitation. As substitutes for gravel, 
stones may be introduced here and 
there ; and grouped either with plants 
on the shore or with aquatics, and 



the shades and reflection of these will 
produce a degree of intricacy and force 
of effect which will complete the 
beauty of the scene. 

In the placing of water, whether in 
imitation of nature or in the creation 
of artificial character, regard should 
always be had to the surrounding 
scenery. Water in landscape attracts 
the eye more powerfully than any 
other material, and therefore it should 
never be placed near a boundary or 
near any object to which it is not de- 
sirable to attract attention. Water 
in imitation of nature should also be 
placed in what is in reality or in ap- 
pearance the lowest part of the 
grounds ; but this rule does not ap- 
ply to water in highly artificial forms. 

Water Caltrops. — See Trapa. 

Watering - pots are generally 
formed of tinned iron painted, but a 
cheaper kind, nearly as durable, is 
formed of zinc, which requires no 
paint. Watering-pots are of different 
sizes, and in every garden having 
plants in pots, there ought to be three 
sizes : large for the open garden, 
smaller for plants in pots under the 
hand ; and yet smaller, and with a 
long tube or spout, for pots on a shelf, 
or at a distance from the operator. 

Watering. — See Water. 

Water-leaf. — See Hydrophyl- 
lum. 

Water-lily. — See Nymph^a and 
Nelumbium. 

Water Plants are those which 
must have their roots and a por- 
tion of the stalk submerged in water, 
in contradistinction to marsh plants, 
which only need to have their roots 
constantly kept moist. Most water 
plants require to be planted, or to have 
their seeds sown, in a layer of soil at 
the bottom of the cistern or aquarium 
in which they are grown, if they are 
tender plants ; or in the soil at the 
bottom of a pond or other piece of 
water in the open ground if they are 



WATER PLANTAIN. 



310 



WEINMANNIA. 



hardy. Most water plants have their 
leaves and flowers always above the 
surface of the water ; and others raise 
themselves above the water in the 
day, when their flowers are expanded, 
and sink below it at night, when their 
flowers are closed up, so as not to be 
injured by the water. To enable 
them to do this, if the water should 
be deep, the stems are sometimes 
unnaturally elongated ; and conse- 
quently they become weak, and un- 
able to flower or perfect their seeds 
properly. To avoid the inconveni- 
ence of this, a framework, as shown 
in Fig. 38, is sometimes fixed in the 
margin of the pond to hold the pot 
in which the plant grows, and to keep 
it at a proper depth in the water. 



Fig. 38. 




HOOK FOR SUSPENDING WATER PLANTS. 



"When plants are placed in the beds 
of rivers, a stone should be laid on 
the roots to keep them in their pro- 
per place, and to prevent them from 
being washed away by the stream. 

Water Plantain. — Alisma. — 
British marsh plants. 



Water Reed. — Arundo Dbnax. 
— See Arundo. 

Water Starwort. — Callltriche 
aquatica. 

Water Soldier. — Stratibtes alb- 
ides. — This curious British plant 
when rooted in the mud at the bot- 
tom of ponds or other pieces of still 
water, sends out long runners which 
rise to the surface, and there pro- 
trude roots. Then detaching them- 
selves from the parent plant, they 
float about till they have blossomed 
and perfected their seed ; after which 
they sink down to the bottom, where 
fixing themselves in the mud, they 
ripen their seeds, which sow them- 
selves, and thus give birth to new 
plants which send out fresh runners to 
rise to the surface the following sum- 
mer. When this plant is to be grown 
in pleasure-grounds or cisterns, it ia 
only necessary to throw some plants of 
it into the water to which they are to 
be transferred, at the time they are 
floating about in their detached state ; 
and at the proper season they will 
sink and take root in the mud at the 
bottom. These plants are worth 
growing on account of the curious 
manner in which they illustrate the 
beautiful economy of nature. 

Water Violet. — Hottonia pa~ 
lustris. — See Hottonia. 

Watsonia. — Iridece. — Bulbous 
plants, very nearly allied to Gladio- 
lus ; and which require exactly the 
same culture as plants of that genus. 
— See Gladiolus. 

Wax Tree. — Ligustrum lucidum. 
— See Ligustrum. 

Wayfaring Tree. — See Vibur- 
num. 

Weinmannia. — Cunoniacecs. — 
Stove shrubs which should be grown 
in peat and loam, and which are pro- 
pagated by cuttings of the young 
wood. The flowers are whitish, and 
something like those of the Mela- 
leuca. 



WILD LIQUORICE. 311 



WINTER CRESS. 



Wendlandia. — Menispermacece. 
— A climbing shrub nearly allied to 
Menispermum, formerly called Coc- 
culus Carolinus. It requires a little 
protection during winter. 

Wheel-barrow. — A wheel-barrow 
is a necessary appendage to every gar- 
den ; and one intended for the use of 
a lady ought to be made as light as 
possible, and with the handles curved 
so as to require very little stooping. 
The wheel also ought to be made 
broad, to prevent it from injuring the 
walk. In addition to the wheel- bar- 
row there may be a hand-barrow, con- 
sisting of a square basket with two 
long poles, so as to be carried between 
two persons ; the use of this being to 
hold the haulm of sweet peas; the 
long stalks of perennial plants J clip- 
pings of box, dead flowers, &c, &c, 
which are not heavy, but which take 
up a great deal of room. These waste 
articles should be carried to the re- 
serve-ground, where they should be 
laid in a heap to rot for manure. A 
great part of the beauty of a flower- 
garden depends on removing withered 
flowers and all unsightly objects as 
soon as is possible without injuring 
the plants to which they belong. 

White Beam Tree. — Pyrus Aria. 
— See Py^rus. 

White Cedar. — Cupressus Thy- 
oides. 

White Vine. — Clematis Vitalba. 
— See Clematis. 

Whitlow-grass. — See Dra x ba. 

Whortle- berry. —See Vacci'nium. 

Wild Bugloss — Lycopsis. — Bri- 
tish and American annual plants, 
some of which are pretty, and which 
will grow in any common soil. 

Wild Liquorice. — Abrus preca- 
tdrius.--A climbing leguminous plant, 
with pale purple flowers, and very 
beautiful red and black seeds ; a na- 
tive of the West Indies. The root 
tastes like liquorice. In England the 
plant should be grown in sandy peat, 



and it requires a stove. The seeds 
are used for making necklaces. 

Wild Olive. — Several plants are 
known by this name ; but the one 
most commonly so called is the 
Eleagnus. Three other plants, called 
the Wild Olive, are the Rhus Coti- 
nus, a kind of Daphne, and Nyssa 
Sylvatica, or the Tupelo Tree. No- 
telsea is also sometimes known by 
the same name. 

Wild Service. — Pyrus tormina- 
lis. — See Pyrus. 

Wild Thyme. — Thymus serpyl- 
lum. 

Willow. — See Salix. — Besides 
the botanical divisions of the genus 
Salix, which are very numerous, Wil- 
lows are divided into three or four 
distinct kinds ; viz., the Willows 
which include all the trees, and gene- 
rally all that have smooth shining 
leaves ; the Osiers, which are the 
shrubby species with long pliant 
shoots, and the Sallows, which have 
thick shaggy leaves. The wood of 
the tree kinds is white, and being 
very soft and elastic, it is used for 
making bats for cricket -players, 
wooden mallets, and other purposes, 
where wood is required that will bear 
a heavy blow without splitting ; the 
Osiers are used for basket-work ; and 
the withies, which are a diminutive 
kind of Osier, for tying up bundles. 
All the Willows grow best in moist 
marshy land, and they are all propa- 
gated by cuttings, which strike with 
the greatest facility. 

Willow-herb. — See Epilobium. 

Willow-oak. — Quercus Phellos. 
— An American Oak with very nar- 
row Willow-like leaves. 

Wind Flower. — See Anemone. 

Winged Pea. — Lathyrus alatus. 
— See Lathyrus. 

Winter Aconite.— See Eranthus. 

Winter Berry. — See Prinos. 

Winter Chkrry — See Physalis. 

Winter Cress — Barbarea vul- 



WOOD LOUSE. 



31 



2 



WORM GRASS. 



garis. — A cruciferous plant, with 
handsome yellow flowers. A double- 
flowered variety of the common win- 
ter cress is called the yellow rocket. 

Winter Green — See Pyrola. 

Winter Sweet — A kind of mar- 
joram. — See Origanum. 

Wise Man's Banana — Musa sa- 
pientum. 

Wisteria — Leguminosce — Climb- 
ing shrubs, with drooping racemes of 
beautiful purple or lilac fragrant 
flowers, which in shape greatly re- 
semble those of the laburnum. The 
commonest kinds are W. Sinensis 
and W. frutescens, but some other 
species have been lately introduced by 
Dr. Sieboldt from Japan. For some 
particulars respecting W. Sinensis, 
see Glycine ; and to this may be 
added that, in the summer of 1840, 
the plant in the London Horticultu- 
ral Society's garden, had more than 
nine thousand racemes, containing in 
all about 675,000 separate flowers. 
W. frutescens is a much smaller 
plant, with closer racemes of flowers, 
which are small and of a dark purple. 
It is a native of North America. Both 
plants require a rich soil, and to be 
frequently watered in dry weather. 

Witch Hazel. — See Hamamelis. 

Withy. — Those kinds of shrubby 
willow which have long flexible shoots. 

Wood. — See Isatis. 

Wolf's Bane. — See Aconitum. 

Woodbine. — See Caprifolium. 

Woodroof. — See Asperula. 

Wood Louse — Oniscus asellus. — 
These creatures are exceedingly de- 
structive, particularly to succulent 
plants and dahlias. They belong to the 
Crustacea, and possess the power, when 
alarmed, of curling themselves up like 
a hedgehog, so as to resemble a little 
ball-like shell. They are fond of 
creeping into any dark places, and are 
frequently caught by laying some 
flower-pots sideways with hay in them, 
near the plants which have been at- 



tacked. They will also creep into 
reeds, or the hollow stalks of rhu- 
barb, and all these traps are used to 
prevent their ravages on dahlias. Very 
frequently small flower-pots may be 
seen inverted on the stakes which 
support dahlias, solely to serve as a 
trap for these creatures. Woodlice 
were formerly supposed to be useful 
in medicine, but like many remedies 
that were formerly popular, they are 
now no longer esteemed. When 
young they are white, and in this 
state they are frequently found in 
great numbers in the ant-hills, living 
with the ants in perfect harmony ; 
they are then very small, and if exa- 
mined closely, they will be found to 
have one segment of the body and one 
pair of legs less, than when full grown. 
This circumstance, combined with the 
difference of colour, has led many 
persons to fancy the creatures found 
in the ant-hills to he different from 
common woodlice, though, in fact, 
they are exactly the same. 

Wood Sage — Teucrium Scoro- 
donia — One of the British kinds of 
Germander. 

Woodsia — Filices — A very beau- 
tiful kind of British fern, with very 
delicate leaves. One species is a na- 
tive of Brazil. 

Wood Sorrel. — See Oxalis. 

Woodwardia — Filices — Exotic 
ferns, natives of North America, and 
Madeira. 

Worm Grass — Spigelia Marildn- 
dica — A hardy perennial, with dark 
scarlet erect flowers, something like 
those of the trumpet honeysuckle. 
This plant, though a native of North 
America, does not ripen its seeds in 
England, and as it does not throw up 
many offsets, it is very difficult to 
propagate in this country. It is also 
very liable to be killed by trans- 
planting ; and thus, though well worth 
growing as a border flower, it is very 
seldom seen in British gardens. It 



XANTHO'XYLUM.. 313 XANTHO'XYLUM. 



ie called worm-grass, from its efficacy 
as a medicine for destroying worms. 
There is another species, a native of 
Jamaica, which has no beauty to re- 
commend it. 

Worms. — The common earth- 
worm (Lumbricus terrestris) is a 
most destructive creature in flower- 
pots. It has been ascertained that 
worms swallow earthy matter, and 
that, after having deprived it of its 
nourishing properties, they eject the 
remainder in the form of what aie 
called worm casts, and which instinct 
teaches them to throw out of their 
burrows, to the surface, that they may 
not be in danger of swallowing it 
again. To find fresh earth, the worm 
is continually incited to penetrate the 
ground in different directions ; while, 
after each repast, it is induced to re- 
tuun to the surface to eject its cast ; 
and thus, ground inhabited by worms 
is sure to be thoroughly perforated 
and pulverised. In a field, this has a 
good effect, as it lightens the soil, and 
renders it pervious to the air and rain ; 
but in a pot, every passage of the 
worm tears asunder the roots of the 
plant, which are pressed close together 
from the smallness of the space in 
which they are confined, and thus 
it does a serious injury. The com- 
mon earth-worm moves by bristles, 
with which the rings of its body are 
furnished, and which enable it to 
move either backwards or forwards at 
pleasure ; and it emits a slimy sub- 



stance which facilitates its passage 
through the earth ; this slimy matter 
adheres to leaves and other substances, 
which the worm drags after it along the 
surface of the ground, but which, as it 
cannot take them through its passages, 
they being only large enough to admit 
its own body, it leaves at the mouth 
of the hole where it disappears. When 
a worm is cut in two, it is generally 
believed that both parts will become 
perfect worms ; but, in fact, only the 
part which contains the head possesses 
the power of throwing out a new tail ; 
and the part containing the tail can- 
not form a new head. Worms are 
produced from eggs ; and they are 
always most abundant in rich humid 
soil. When the casts are seen on the 
surface of earth in a pot, no time 
should be lost in turning out the earth 
on the hand, and picking out the 
worms. The roots torn asunder should 
then be thrown away, and the plant 
repotted in fresh earth. 

Wormwood. — See Artemisia. 

Woundwort — Anthyllis Vulne- 
ria. — A British plant, only found 
in chalky soils. 

Wrack Grass. — See Zostera. 

Wrightia — Apocynece — Hot- 
shrub trees, natives of the East Indies, 
which were formerly considered to 
belong to the genus Nerium. One 
of the species W. coccinea has splen- 
did flowers; it should be grown in sand 
and peat. The other kinds have 
white flowers. 



X. 



Xanthorhiza — Ranunculaceee — 
Yellow root. An American shrub, 
with very neat dark purple flowers 
which are produced early in spring, 
and handsome leaves. It will grow 
in any common garden soil, and it is 
increased by suckers from the roots. 

Xantho'xylum — RutacecB, or 
Terebinthacece — The toothache 



tree. Trees and shrubs, most of 
which require a stove in England, and 
should be grown in a sandy loam. 
X. fraxineum, the prickly ash, is an 
American shrub, the bark of which is 
aromatic, and is considered very effi- 
cacious in rheumatism. It is hardy 
in British gardens, and will grow in 
any soil. X. nitidum, which has 



YELLOW VETCHLING. 



314 



YUCCA. 



strong thorns on the midribs of its 
leaves, is used as a hedge plant in 
China. 

Xera'nthemum — Composite — 
Purple everlasting flower. Very 
beautiful annual flowers, which may 
either be sown in the open ground in 
April, or raised on a hot-bed, and 
planted out in May : the only advan- 
tage by the latter plan being that the 
plants flower earlier. They are very 
beautifnl, and well deserving of a 
place in every flower-garden. 

Xerophy'llum — Melanthaceoe — 
Singular plants with long, narrow- 
leaves, and spikes of pretty white 
flowers. The species are natives of 
North America, and quite hardy in 
British gardens, where they should be 
grown in peat and loam. X. grami- 
neum is a peculiarly desirable species, 
from its loose and elegant spikes of 
small star-like white flowers. 

Xerotis — Junceas — Rush-like 
plants, natives of North Holland, 
which require protection in this coun- 



try ; and which are not worth the 
trouble of growing. 

Ximene x sia. — Composite. — An- 
nual and perennial flowers, natives of 
Mexico, with yellow flowers, which 
will grow in any common garden soil. 
There are two biennial species, which 
should be kept in a frame during 
winter, and transplanted to the open 
border in spring. 

Xylobium. — Orchidacece. — Bra- 
zilian parasites, growing on trees, and 
requiring astove in England. For their 
culture, see Orchideous Epiphytes. 

Xylaphy'lla. — Euphorbiacea. — 
Very curious shrubs, which produce 
their flowers on the margins of their 
leaves. They are mostly natives of 
Jamaica, and require a stove in Eng- 
land. The flowers are generally 
greenish, but those of X. montana, 
the Sea-side Laurel, are of a bright 
yellow. They are generally grown 
in sandy peat. 

Xylosteum. — The Fly Honeysuc- 
kle. See Lonicera. 



Yam. — Dioscarea. — Herbaceous 
plants, natives of the tropics, generally 
with greenish white flowers, the tu- 
berous roots of which are eaten, as a 
substitute for potatoes. The stems of 
most of the species are weak, and 
cannot support themselves. 

Yarrow. — Achillea Milli folium. 
— See Achillea. 

Yellow Rattle. — Rhinanthns 
majus is a British plant, which is 
very ornamental, froni its yellow la- 
biate flowers having each a bright 
dark eye. 

Yellow Root. — See Xanthor- 

HIZA. 

Yellow Sultan. — See Amberboa. 

Yellow Vetchling. — Lathyrus 
Aphaca. — A British climbing vetch, 
with yellow flowers, only found in 
sandy soils. 



Yellow Wort. — Chlora perfoli- 
ata. — A British annual, with glaucous 
leaves and yellow flowers. It is al- 
ways found in a wild state in chalky 
soils, and it will seldom grow in gar- 
dens unless the soil be chalky, or of a 
calcareous loam. 

Yew Tree. — See Taxus. 

Yucca. — Liliacece, or Tulipacece. 
— Adam's Needle. Evergreen plants 
with leaves like the Aloe, and some- 
times a stem, or rather trunk, like a 
palm-tree. Some of the species have 
been known to have a trunk twenty 
feet high, sending up every year, five 
or six immense flower-stems, each six 
or eight feet high. In ordinary cases, 
however, the trunk is rarely more 
than two or three feet high, though 
the flower-stem frequently measures 
five or six feet. The flowers are 



ZEA. 



315 zephyra'nthes. 



bell-shaped, and generally white. The 
commonest kinds in British gardens 
are Y. gloribsa, Y. Dracbnis, and 
Y. filamentbsa. All these are na- 
tives of North America, and are quite 
hardy in Britain ; they have all white 
flowers, and they are all Aloe-like 
shrubs, presenting the general appear- 
ance shown in Fig. 39, which was 
taken from a plant of Y. Dracbnis. 
Y. aloifolia, on the contrary, always 
forms a palm-like tree, from twelve to 
twenty feet high ; it is rather more 
tender, and its flowers are purplish on 
the outside and white within. All 
the kinds prefer a deep sandy soil, 
and they are all propagated by suckers. 
They will all grow close to the sea side, 
and are therefore very suitable for 
the grounds of marine villas. They 
also produce a good effect in vases, 



Fig. 39. 




YUCCA DRACONIS. 

on the terraced garden of an Italian 
villa, as they form an excellent sub- 
stitute for the Agaves, so common in 
Italy, but which are too tender for 
the open air in England. 



z. 



Zamia. — CycadecB. — Very curious 
palm-like plants, with short, tubercle- 
like stems, and long frond-like leaves, 
which are stiff and leathery, and stand 
erect round the stem. The remains 
of the footstalks of the old leaves, 
forma scaly kind of bark to the stem. 
The flowers are dioicious ; and the 
fruit is an oblong, erect, scaly nut, 
which is hard and bony. The species 
are mostly natives of the Cape of Good 
Hope, but some are found in the West 
Indies ; and one Z. spiralis, in New 
South Wales. The plants should be 
grown in very sandy loam, and they 
are generally propagated by offsets. 
They are very tenacious of life, and 
when the centre of the stem is rotten, 
the scale if planted will generally send 
up leaves, and become separate plants. 

Zanthoxylum. — See Xanthoxy- 

LUM. 

Zea — Graminece. — The Indian 
corn. An annual plant, a native of 



America. The plant is very orna- 
mental, and the male blossoms are 
particularly elegant. It should be 
grown in rich mould, and it should 
be sown very early in spring; or it may 
be raised on a hotbed, and trans- 
planted into the open ground in 
May. 

Zebra Plant. — Calathea Zebri- 
na. — Cane-like plants, with red and 
yellow, purple and yellow, or white 
flowers ; natives of Brazil, which re- 
quire a stove in England, and which 
should be grown in sandy peat. 

Zedoary. — Curcuma Zedoaria. 
— See Turmeric. 

ZeWbia. — Ericaceae. — The new 
name given by Professor Don to a 
genus of Andromeda. 

Zephyra'nthes. — Amaryllida- 
cea>. — Cape bulbs, with very elegant 
flowers. Nearly all of the species are 
quite hardy, and only require planting 
like the Crocus, in a warm border, in 



Zl'ZYPHUS. 



316 



ZYGOPHYLLUM. 



a somewhat sandy soil ; without want- 
ing any further care, except occa- 
sionally taking them up, every 
third or fourth year, to remove the 
offsets. 

Zi'chya. — Leguminosoe. — Mr. 
Bentham's new name for some of the 
kinds of Kenned ya. Seep. 349. 

Zingiber. — Scitaminece. — The 
Ginger. Stove-plants, with small 
flowers, which are produced in a very 
curious spathe, and a fleshy rhizoma, 
or underground root. One of the 
species is the common ginger. 

Zi'nnia Composites. — Beautiful 

annual flowers, natives of Mexico, 
which should be raised on a hothed, 
and planted out in May. See Half- 
hardy Annuals, p. 15. 

Zi'zyphus. — RharanacecB. — Half- 
hardy shrubs, some of which are fre- 



quently grown in British gardens. 
See Jujube Tree, and Paliu\rus. 

Zostera. — Fluviales. — "Wrack 
grass, or Grass wrack. A marine 
plant, common in salt-water ditches. 
The leaves, when dry, are tough and 
flexible ; and they have been lately 
used for filling beds and cushions. 

Zygope'talum. — OrchidacecB. — 
Showy orchideous plants, which in 
their native state are found growing 
on the branches of trees, and which 
should be grown on wood in the stove. 
For their culture, see Orchideous 
Epiphytes. 

Zygophyllum. — Rutaceoe, or Zy- 
gophyllecB. — The Bean Caper. 
Greenhouse and hardy perennials, 
which will grow in any common gar- 
den soil, that is somewhat loamy. 
They are propagated by cuttings. 



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